Reasons to be Strong
by IneffablePassion
Summary: Nao wishes to break out from her family's image and be herself. She encounters an adventure that takes her on a path of growing up while studying at the prestigious Duel Academia. She discovers where her courage lies and how she could use it for a positive impact upon peers who disregard her because of her surname. Note: Subtle Romance
1. The Whispers

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**The Whispers**

Dressed in a pristine private uniform of her middle school, a petite young girl with short dark violet hair and mauve eyes held out her duel disk on her right arm with a monster and two face-down cards on the field. Her left hand clutched onto three cards, their contents hidden from her opponent. The field was dominated by a forest-like scenery, courtesy from her Field Spell Gaia Power, which Earth-type monsters gain five hundred attack points and lose four hundred defense points. The only monster standing to protect her life points was a very peculiar monster. It was a pair of small bamboo shoots with large eyes that didn't suit a determined expression. It had two thousand attack and defense points at Level Five, excluding the field spell.

Her opponent had two strong dragons in attack mode, one of them with an Equip Magic Card empowering it. The examiner activated a magic card, Heavy Storm but the effect never took place.

"Naturu Bamboo Shoot's monster effect activates. While it remains face-up on the field, the opponent cannot activate Magic or Trap Cards," she neutrally explained.

The magic card on her opponent's field was shattered and automatically sent to the Cemetery. "If the effect of a Naturu monster I control was activated during this turn, this card can be Special Summoned from my hand. Appear, Naturu Hydrangea."

**Naturu Hydrangea (Level 5)**  
**Plant Type**  
**ATK: 1900 DEF: 2000**

The examiner then said, "Battle! Dragon Egger attacks Naturu Bamboo Shoot! Dragon Egg Flare!"

"Trap Card, Thorn Wall. When a Plant-Type monster is selected as an attack target, all of the opponent's monsters in Attack Position are destroyed." The wall of green thorns grew from the ground and reflected the attack Dragon Egger used towards itself and Sapphire Dragon.

"Turn End."

"My turn, draw. Battle: Naturu Bamboo Shoot, Naturu Hydrangea, direct attack!" Her two deceptively small monsters attacked with flower petals and bamboo spikes, immediately lowering her examiner's Life Points from four thousand to zero.

"Examination Duel concluded. Congratulations. You're the winner," he said. The girl, Fukugawa Nao, wordlessly nodded her head.

From the stands, three students already wearing blue uniforms for Duel Academia watched each match and snickered at the ones who failed. When they watched Nao finished her duel with a clean victory, they discussed with each other, "That Examinee No. 5, is the highest ranking female applicant, Fukugawa Nao."

"Hey, isn't she underaged?"

"The Fukugawa family is a sneaky bunch, huh? I bet they bribed the staff to allow their daughter to take the exam."

"Nonsense," the teenage boy in the middle stuck his nose in the air. "She has skill, but there's no doubt she'll be placed in Obelisk Blue. Those in the same rank as me won't be threat, especially for an adolescent like her."

"That's true, but that Fukugawa shouldn't even have the right to be here yet." They stopped talking when they spotted the same girl walk up the stairs to her seat at the back. The boy in the middle, Manjōme Jun, could have sworn that she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. She refocused her eyes back to the front as she heard other whispers around her.

"Her duel must have been fabricated for her."

"I bet her monsters aren't that strong."

"I can beat her in one turn with my eyes closed."

"She doesn't seem that great."

"Don't speak so loud. She might tell on her parents, being a little kid she looks like."

All the gossip Nao heard around her was anticipated before applying. Because she couldn't get along with many people at her old school, her parents thought that her happiness might appear if she attended Duel Academia, the dueling school of the elite. Nao was lonely all the time, but her parents wanted to make her happy. If they had to be separated from her in order to ensure it, they would. Nao wanted her application process to be quiet and ordinary, but rumors of her famous family would be bound to stir amongst the students.

Nao's father, Fukugawa Katsumaru was the chairman of one of the branches of card distribution from Industrial Illusions. He had been acquainted with Pegasus J. Crawford in many occasions, but Nao had only been introduced once. Since many people knew who her father was, they would mockingly respect her for being his daughter. She wished she had the courage and confidence to stand up for herself. The only way for her to do so was through dueling.

She was going to get used to it. It wasn't like the others hated her. They just didn't understand why she had the privilege.

For the next while until she was free to go home and pack up for school, she watched other examinees use their own unique tactics to pass their duels. Unlike other middle-school students she knew, every turn of the duel caught her attention. That was how she learned how to duel and applied them to her dueling style.

However, one duel exam did put a fascinated smile on her face: Examinee Number 110 - Yuki Judai. Despite being assigned to one of Duel Academia's professors, he earned himself a victory by Flame Wingman. After all, it was the first time she saw a Hero Deck.

"Gotcha! That was a fun duel, sensei," he said with a wide grin. Judai was very childish but passionate, Nao thought to herself.

A brief alarm on her watch alerted, so she quickly got up from her seat and left the Kaiba Stadium. On the way, she accidentally collided into someone causing both of them to fall on the ground.

"I'm sorry," she politely apologized.

The boy rubbed his head but he replied, "It's alright." Nao opened her eyes and blinked. Yuki Judai, who defeated the seemingly invincible Antique Gear Golem had literally bumped heads with her. It wasn't very hard to remember his face.

"You're Examinee number 110, Yuki Judai," she muttered.

"Yeah, that's me," he cluelessly confirmed. He wore a black uniform with a red shirt under his blazer and trainers. His hair had two tones of brown. He stood up first and offered a hand to Nao.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said as she took his hand. She, however, wasn't surprised that he was taller than her, thinking that she would be younger than him. The alarm on her watch went off again, and Nao couldn't delay. Her father told her that morning he would pick her up himself.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," she rushed out, leaving him clueless for a moment before realizing that she was the duelist who didn't lose any life points during her exam. He arrived just before she won her duel, and while Examinee number 1, Misawa Daichi, was finishing up his. Like any other duelist, he got very excited for his exam after watching theirs.

"What was her name? Fu... Fuku..?" he fumbled with words until his new friend, Marufuji Shō, finished for him.

"Fukugawa Nao, Examinee number 5." Misawa Daichi accompanied him.

"You know about her, Shō?"

"Fukugawa Nao is from the Fukugawa family connected to Industrial Illusion company. She's a talented dueling genius who uses a nature-themed deck," Misawa explained.

"That's why she didn't lose any life points and inflicted over 4000 points of damage in one turn. Her family must have given her the opportunity to have a unique deck," Shō fit the pieces together.

"One turn kill, right?" Judai wondered then smiled, "Wow, now I'm really excited to duel so many people at Duel Academia!" Daichi and Shō found his appetite and attitude for dueling very amusing, but almost frightening after watching his flawless victory. Some of the other students stared at him after hearing his loud voice in the process.

Inside the car driving on the highway, Nao watched the scenery moving by. Her father was sitting in the passenger seat, while their chauffeur drove their expensive car.

"How did your exam result?" he asked. He eyed on the front mirror that reflected his daughter in the back.

"I passed," she answered plainly.

"As expected of my daughter," he proudly commended. "Then you are confirmed to go to Duel Academia." Nao weakly nodded with a small smile that didn't quite match her eyes. There was a pause between them before his tone became a bit more serious.

"Nao, you will not take back your decision, am I right? Your mother and I are aware of how much you love dueling, but when you're studying there, don't push yourself beyond your limits," he warned.

"I understand, Father," she assured him.

"All I'm going to ask of you is to just do your best in class, make good friends and continue to grow as a duelist. There are many wonders in duel monsters out there in the world that you may not know yet."

"Yes, Father."

He smiled in approval as the car pulled in at the Fukugawa residence. The chauffeur opened the door for her, who thanked him gratefully. Instead of immediately following her father into the house, Nao took the time to embed the image of her home in her mind before departing. She did admit to herself that she would miss it - the driving routes between school and home, her mother's cooking and her father's books about duel monsters. She would definitely feel strange when she will not be able to return to her adapted daily life for a while after tomorrow.

"Nao?" he called out.

"Yes, Father," she replied, catching up to him.

"Come, your mother is waiting inside," he placed a hand on her shoulder and led her inside as the chauffeur drove the car into the garage.

That night, dinner was more lively than usual with Nao and her parents in pleasant spirits after learning about her official enrollment to Duel Academia. It was very special because she would be the youngest student in her class with strong dueling skills, so they were certain that she would be placed in Obelisk Blue. To celebrate, Nao's mother along with the cooks prepared all of her daughter's favorite dishes for her to enjoy.

On the other hand, Nao was torn between being utterly excited for a new school and being extremely nervous about different people she may encounter. From the whispers at the stadium, she already made an uneasy impression from her exam. She didn't mean to perhaps intimidate those with pride, but she didn't have a choice but to showcase some of the cards in her deck.

That was one of her weaknesses - her doubts overwhelm her optimism.

"Nao, is something the matter? Are you not feeling well again?" her mother worriedly asked across the table. She pushed her thoughts aside and shook her head.

"No, I was just thinking."

"Don't worry so much, dear. Our little girl is just growing up," her father told his wife.

"I suppose, but she is still our daughter. Tomorrow, she will be living on her own away from her family."

"We can trust Nao for her to be strong. She is old enough to take care of herself, because she is mature and intelligent for her age." Nao inwardly frowned because there was one thing he mentioned she desperately wanted to be.

She wanted to be strong; not physically, but mentally and emotionally.

After packing her belongings for the airplane ride to Duel Academia island, she looked through her deck, sitting on her bed with her back against the headboard. She counted a fair number of plant-types, insect-types, beast and rock types. Plants were the dominant type in her deck, therefore stocking support cards for it. She learned from her father that the archetypes in her deck were fairly overlooked, so she decided to use them to her advantage. She had to thank her father for supervising the card designers to create her Naturu monsters specifically to adapt to her dueling style. In exchange, she would have to bring out the high level monsters with more difficulty.

In a way, Nao could see some connection between herself and the monsters in her deck, because visually, Naturu monsters were very appealing for children, but each member had a special effect that weave all the other monsters together. They were deceiving monsters that were initially mocked until the opposing player is evidently defeated.

With every duel she won and lost, she said that there was always room for improvement. If she wanted to stick to that resolve, she would have to try harder than she usually did, especially where she will continue to learn about duel monsters.

Nao straightened her deck before placing it on top of her bedside drawer. She switched off her book lamp on her head board and fell asleep for the last night in her home.


	2. The Lighthouse

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**The Lighthouse**

"Do you have everything? Your clothes? Your deck? Your medication?" Nao's mother fussed over her at the airport. Dressed in a simple attire consisting of a white button up shirt with black skirt and ballet flat shoes, the young prospect Duel Academia student tried to calm her mother down. Even after enrollment, the older woman was still acting like a hen tending her chicks.

"Yes, Mother," she forced a smile on her tired face. Despite sleeping earlier than her usual pattern, she found herself tossing and turning in bed. She had a hard time waking up in the morning and nearly dozed off in the car on the way to the airport.

Nao's mother finally gave her a warm hug while muttering to her, "Remember to eat well, study hard, make good friends, and stay out of trouble."

"I will," she confided. Her mother sniffed as she pulled away from her daughter.

"We will miss you at home."

"I will miss you too, but I will be back for the winter."

Nao's father approached her and pulled out a card from his pocket. It was safely stored in a white card sleeve as he handed it to her.

"This is?" Nao asked.

"After your exam yesterday, I believe you deserve this card now," he indirectly congratulated her again. Nao read the name, read the description box and the attack power. If she added this card to her deck, then it would become the strongest monster.

"I will use it well, Father," Nao's eyes brightened, wide awake and motivated.

"You should get going before the plane leaves," he chided before sending her off. Her luggage was already sent to the island, so she was only holding her deck and a small bag.

"Then, I will be off. I will contact Mother and Father as often as I can," she assured before turning towards the gate, waving at them for the last time. After handing her ticket, there was no turning back.

The plane ride for Nao was relatively short until the arrival. She followed the crowd into the main building and was handed a hand-held PDA System, and an Academy-issued Duel Disk. She was then directed to collect her uniform from the front desk and change into it. She showed her Examination Number and a professor handed her the uniform. It consisted of a white sleeveless top with blue trimming, a blue mini skirt and royal blue boots. Since she was physically smaller than most girls, she had to obtain the smallest size she could choose from.

After exiting the washrooms, most of the crowd was gone and she began to panic inside. Before she could choose which direction and risk getting lost, a female voice called out to her.

"Are you lost?" Nao turned around and saw a taller girl with long dirty-blonde hair wearing the same uniform as she was. She had a friendly expression that somehow put her at ease.

"I'll help you get there. I'm Tenjōin Asuka. You are...?"

"Fukugawa Nao. Thank you, Asuka."

"Don't worry so much, Nao, but we should go to the main hall before we're late." As the two girls walked together, the short of the duo couldn't help but admire her appearance. She looked like she had already been through puberty and she had a confident aura around her, because it was very evident in her eyes.

"If I could remember, you were Examinee Number 5, right?" Asuka snapped out of her senses.

"Yes," she stuttered slightly.

"Are you nervous, Nao?" She found herself speechless at her question and tried to put some words together to make a response.

"Well, about that," she was only able to mumble.

"Duel Academia isn't as intimidating as it sounds. You'll really like it here, seeing that you were really strong at your exam," she complimented. Nao felt her heart getting a little lighter, not realizing how much of an impression she made to some people, namely Asuka, who saw a smile grow on her face from the corner of her eye.

"Well, here it is. This is the last destination of the process before we're free to settle down." Before they went inside together, Nao impulsively requested Asuka to accompany her to her dorm, seeing that she was the same rank. Though she was taken aback, she wholeheartedly agreed.

In the main hall, Nao stood with the group of Obelisk girls but didn't interact with them except for Asuka. She was all she had in her mind. From the way she walked and the way she spoke with a gentle but confident tone, she became her role model. She was then instructed to stand in line with the other students for the Principal on screen.

"Welcome, Dueling Elites. You all used your skills to open the narrow admission gates. Please have fun studying in hopes of becoming the future Duel King or Queen." The Principal had a large but bald head, and wore a magenta coloured attire that matched with the student uniforms. He gave more encouraging words to the first-year students before they were finally dismissed.

Asuka, as promised, led her on the path to the girls' dorms. As they passed by fellow classmates, Nao realized that all the girls were wearing the same blue uniform.

"You noticed, didn't you? All the girls are automatically placed in Obelisk Blue, regardless of skill," Asuka explained. Nao didn't speak out loud, but what she said made her more uneasy. Male students were specifically classified but the girls weren't regarded as much. Here Nao wanted to leave a good impression to other students, but many will end up underestimating her instead.

"You'll be surprised with the lack of variety the girls' decks have. Only a few Obelisk girls stand out, because they are more decent than others," she continued. Nao felt a little silly for a moment. She realized that not many girls were very passionate about Duel Monsters back at her middle school, so it may not be much of a difference at Duel Academia.

When they arrived at the Girls' dormitories, Asuka showed her the main rooms of the residence before leading her to her assigned room that was helpfully labeled with her name. "My room isn't far away, but if you need some help, you're more than welcome."

"Thank you, Asuka," she bowed slightly. Asuka giggled slightly and said, "Nao, sometimes you're too polite. You can speak informally to me, you know?"

"I can't do that. I am a year younger than everyone in our class, so I cannot."

"Between you and me, you can be comfortable." She gave her a small wave and left her with some space. Nao sighed and opened the door to her room. It was just as big as her room back at home, but all the furniture was already placed. Her luggage was sitting by her bed. She took her time putting away her clothes and other personal items. The last thing she did on her mental agenda was opening the curtain to reveal a beautiful view of the early sunset over the small body of water that passed under the dorm. She could definitely conclude that she could never get tired of it.

That evening, Nao checked her reminders that the welcoming dinner was about to begin downstairs, so she made some last minute preparations before going. She found Asuka and her two friends by one of the large ornate windows exchanging words over glasses of punch before approaching them.

"Nao! You're finally here," she greeted her.

"Asuka, do you know this girl?" one of her friends with orange hair asked.

"My name is Fukugawa Nao. Nice to meet you," she introduced shyly, feeling a little intimidated with their height slightly towering over her.

"Nao, these two are Junko and Momoe. They're friends of mine," Asuka gestured to them, who gave her a warm wave.

"We saw your practical exam yesterday, and your monster cards are adorable!" Junko squealed slightly. Nao flushed a little with the compliment.

"It's true. They're so cute," Momoe agreed with a nod.

"You two, she's still shy. Be a bit more comfortable, will you?" Asuka lightly toned them down, but Nao smiled at their personalities. As long as they wouldn't question her too much, she would be able to tolerate them well. The two cheerful girls accompanying them began to gossip and bicker about topics that were almost unrelated to Dueling such as boys in the upper years, fashion and celebrities. Nao passively answered their questions, not to be rude or ignorant.

Nao excused herself to get a glass of water to cool herself down. Despite the positive atmosphere in the main hall, her smile turned into a frown as she heard the whispers again from behind. She could have sworn that some of the girls were discreetly sneering at her from their groups. Even while she was minding her own business, she still draws attention because of her surname. Nao wanted to drop her glass and run out of the building to escape from the suffocating stares.

"Don't listen to them, Nao," Asuka told her from behind, who wondered why she was taking so long. The younger girl turned her head with a forlorn expression, but the blonde kindly dismissed it.

"Like I told you before, many of the girls aren't very decent in dueling. Seeing someone younger than them and more skilled threatens them. It won't be long until they will accept you into Obelisk Blue," Asuka consoled with a hand on her shoulder. Nao wished it would be possible, but a dominant part of her heart doubted it.

Near the end of the welcome party, most of the girls returned to their dorms but Nao knew she couldn't sleep yet. She slipped away from Asuka, Junko and Momoe to get some fresh air outside. She overheard some students earlier today that there was a harbor on the other side of the island. It sounded appealing because it was isolated from the dorms. With a desire to be alone, she decided to take a walk.

Remembering the path Asuka taught her, she retraced her steps and followed a solitary path that led towards the bridge. She walked across and spotted the harbor from far away. Her heart enlightened with accomplishment as she picked up her pace to reach the lighthouse at the end. Nao stopped for a moment and could have sworn that she heard foreign footsteps nearby, but brushed it off.

The lighthouse was tall and bright, which helped her with her path towards it. The air suddenly felt colder because of the sea that partially surrounded it. The waves were constantly reforming and subsiding around her as she began to relax. She sat on the edge, her feet centimeters away from touching the water. Although she felt more at peace, the drowsiness she so desperately craved didn't come. Nao sighed into the open air.

"Couldn't sleep on your first day?" a deep mellow voice asked her from behind the lighthouse. The tower was the only thing that obscured their vision from each other.

"No," she replied in a solemn tone. "A little pathetic, isn't it?"

"I disagree. It's always very lively on the first night with new students too excited to sleep," he mused. Nao felt a little silly for putting herself down in front of a stranger, who she atypically felt a little at ease around.

"How do you find Duel Academia so far?" he asked another question. There was a pause before she answered him.

"I see so many excited people around me, but I don't share the same enthusiasm. In all honesty, I am afraid."

"You're afraid?" he repeated.

"I want to avoid them - the whispers that torment me."

"Because you might be too strong against them?" he assumed. "Perhaps patience may be the best choice for now. Maybe you don't have to approach those that oppose you, but maybe wait for the challenge that you can prove yourself worthy." Nao didn't know how to process the advice he was giving her. She didn't expect it, but deep in her mind, she liked it. The two strangers were silent for the next while, listening to the waves revolving around them. Nao wondered whether the kind man was still there, but she didn't want to find out just yet.

"Thank you," she let it slip from her lips.

"Your welcome," he said in return, which startled her.

"Could I come here again?" she regretted asking and guiltily covered it up with, "Or do you want to be alone?"

"I don't mind if you like this place so much," he said, which made her suddenly look forward to tomorrow.

Nao and the enigmatic stranger kept each other company until the air got too cold to linger within. He left first and Nao followed suit a few minutes later, an odd pleasure of keeping the appearance of her conscience unknown. She arrived back at her dorm quickly and quietly, changed into her nightwear and fell fast asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow and her chilled body under the covers.


	3. Indirectly Bullied

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

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**Chapter 3**

**Indirectly Bullied**

"Among Duel Monsters cards, they are classified into Monster cards, Fusion Monster cards, Ritual Monster cards, Effect Monster cards, Magic and Trap cards. Next, Magic cards are sorted into Normal, Field, Equip, Permanent, Ritual and Quick-Play Magic card. Lastly, Trap cards are sorted into Normal, Counter and Permanent Traps."

Nao recited the classification of all cards in Duel Monsters in front of the class, partially to her dismay of not being able to blend in with the other students. Asuka, Junko and Momoe gazed at her with some pride for her, while most of Obelisk Blue, Ra Yellow and Osiris Red tried to pay attention to the underaged classmate. Nao could feel that they were still having a difficult time accepting her.

Professor Chronos, however, was exceptionally pleased.

"Bellissimo! A superb job! It was a task far too simple for Obelisk Blue's Signora Nao, was it not?" he praised with an Italian accent that matched his appearance. When he examined all the applicants for first years, he was initially ecstatic that the Fukugawa family wished to enroll their daughter to Duel Academia. Chronos wanted her into the class list without any evaluation, but to make her application fair, the Fukugawa family insisted on her taking the exams to prove her worth.

"It is basics," she neutrally replied as she sat down.

Nao felt worse when Professor Chronos picked an Osiris Red, Marufuji Shō, to answer a question that put him in a nervous wreck. Asuka had a matching expression beside her at the professor's discrimination. The class began to laugh at him for tripping on words, but roared in another wave of laughter when a fellow Osiris Red Nao recognized, Yuki Judai, backfired a commented that made the Italian professor bite on his handkerchief. Nao stifled a giggle and Asuka admired him with an unreadable expression. The younger girl saw her friend from the corner of her eye but didn't think much about it. Judai had a legitimate point, but his childishness was most amusing for her to lighten her spirits with.

When Nao went to her next class, there was still some time before it began. She sat at her seat, reading her workbook to pass the time. Suddenly, something hit the side of her head and landed on the ground beside her. It was a piece of paper crumpled up into a ball. She picked it up and unraveled it.

"High-class fraud" was scribbled in messy handwriting. Her heart dropped and cold sweat prickled the back of her neck. Nao heard snickers from her right and whipped her head towards them. There was a group of Obelisk boys smirking at her and mockingly waved at her. She frowned and tucked the piece of paper under her workbooks, trying to keep it out of her mind. Asuka arrived moment later, which made her feel better and occupied from the message. Professor Daitokuji walked into the classroom and started the lesson, with Shō used as a comfort zone for his large orange cat.

When Nao headed towards her last class of the day, she accidentally bumped shoulders with an unknown Obelisk Blue.

"Oh! I'm deeply sorry," the boy exaggerated, almost teasingly. "We have to make way for Miss Fukugawa Nao, right?" His friends got the joke and nodded. Nao brushed it off and continued her path. The torture wasn't over when she still heard the whispers getting louder in the hall.

"Look! Our rival in Obelisk Blue is from the Fukugawa Family! We have to address her as Miss Fukugawa Nao!" She hated it. She didn't want to be called that way. No one was taking her seriously and she wanted to escape.

"Miss Nao is so smart! She's a genius girl!" It was the complete opposite of what they really thought of her. They didn't want to accept a younger classmate who could be better than them. They figured picking on a girl would be more fun than picking on a boy.

Upset at what the bullying she anticipated, Nao briskly walked faster while trying not to run. Her head was low and she didn't see where she was walking and accidentally collided into another Obelisk Blue. This time, she didn't stop because she couldn't tolerate any more insults for the day.

"She didn't even address him! How low!" Another comment was in the air.

"She has some nerve! She should apologize to him!"

"She must have done it on purpose to get his attention!"

The student Nao unknowingly encountered watched her retreating figure down the hall as he also heard the barbs targeting her. He let his gaze on her linger until she disappeared before walking to his next class for the day.

The comments were from girls, and they were more vicious than what the boys were inflicting her with. When she arrived in the girls' change rooms to get ready for gym, she tried her very best not to cry. Asuka found her and successfully engaged her into a conversation that made her talk more. Nao was glad that she was able to stop the urge before she arrived. Asuka obliviously managed to get her mind off of what happened earlier with a game of volleyball. Junko and Momoe joined in later and made the atmosphere more lively.

Later during the evening after dinner, Asuka offered Nao a time to relax in the bathhouse, but she declined while feigning exhaustion. She wanted to go to the lighthouse again and watch the sunset there, hoping to clear her mind some more. She walked on the same path as the night before, relieved that she didn't run into any other students on the way.

Nao arrived at the lighthouse and sat on the same spot. As she watched the sun set, however, she couldn't bring herself to enjoy the beautiful sight displayed for her. It was only one day of bullying at Duel Academia and she already disliked it. She told herself that she was prepared for it, but it seemed that she still couldn't handle it.

"Your shoulders looked heavy today," said the same soft voice on the other side. Nao didn't respond to it. "Are the whispers still tormenting you?"

Her breath got caught in her throat. There was a bile in her throat that tempted her to let her tears free, but she fought with her might against it.

"They don't want to challenge me. They don't think I'm worthy of being challenged," she admitted with a shaky voice. "I..." Nao knew how to hate, but she didn't want to say it for herself, or better yet out loud for the stranger to hear.

"You hate them." He didn't ask, but it was a statement that matched her thoughts. Nao's tears were in her eyes, and she squeezed them shut to prevent them from flowing.

"I don't want to say it."

"I know because you don't want to fight back."

Nao controlled her voice and asked, "How do you know?"

"Because you're running away from the whispers."

"Do I still have to be patient?" she asked, referring to his advice from last night.

"That's up to you, Fukugawa Nao. You can confront it with hate, or wait for a chance to fight back the right way." She was about to stand up and look at the kind stranger helping her, but restrained herself. This person knew who she was, but she didn't. Surely, he wasn't one of the bullies involved in tormenting her, but someone who was trying to help her stand up for herself.

"Do you think there will be that chance?" He paused at her question and smiled to himself.

"We don't know about that, but I do think there will be."

His answer made her feel much better, but his footsteps get softer and softer, signifying that he left her alone. By the time he was gone, the sun was nearly set with the sky painted with red and blue. Nao checked her PDA and saw that her curfew was near. Unlike the previous night, the curfew time was earlier and she had to return before the gate to her dorm was locked for the evening.

When she arrived back, there was a loud ruckus buzzing among the girls. In the crowd, she saw Junko and Momoe dragging someone into the main hall. Nao rushed towards them and recognized the small blue-haired boy from Osiris Red with his hands bound by a rope.

"Marufuji Shō?" Nao questioned, the boy startled at her appearance.

"F-Fu-Fukugawa Nao!" He identified. She turned to her friends and asked, "What's going on?"

The three girls moved him to the main hall and called Asuka to join the interrogation.

"Wait, a love letter from our Asuka, you say?" Junko clarified as he blissfully explained why he trespassed into the girls dorms.

"Yeah. Right?" He quirkily winked and giggled, but Asuka had no idea what he was talking about.

"What a dope. There's no way that Asuka, the Queen of Obelisk Blue, would write a love letter to an Osiris Red like you!" Junko put him down but he wasn't fazed, claiming that he had evidence.

"I'm not lying! It was in my locker and said, "I'll wait for you behind the girls' dorm." See?" He held out the letter itself and Junko took it. They opened it up and Nao recognized that it was false. She couldn't imagine the words Asuka would say that matched the contents.

"I wouldn't write such vulgar words," she confirmed.

"I seems the men of Osiris Red don't even know that," Momoe commented. Shō was crushed at the truth.

"Then, who in the world...?" he stuttered in disbelief. Nao spotted something on the letter and said, "What's this? This is addressed to Yuki Judai." Shō's eyes widened at the discovery, but slumped his shoulders when Nao turned the paper and pointed at the name that wasn't address to him.

"I can't believe you were lured by some fake love letter and came here without any concern. And to top it off, it was all a mistake," Momoe chided him. Nao took pity on him for his misunderstanding.

"This is depressing," Shō muttered.

"You reap what you sow," Nao agreed with him.

"Isn't it the truth," Momoe added.

"Let's have this reported to the academy," Junko proposed.

"Peeping into the bathhouse is about as shameless as you possibly get," Momoe justified with her.

"I said I didn't peep!" he blubbered, which Nao hoped it would be a bit more quiet because a new voice from above interrupted them.

"Everyone's out here together, so what's the commotion?" Ayukawa, Obelisk Girls' headmistress asked. The girls below panicked, but Asuka whispered to them, "Momoe, Junko, Nao." She eyed on Shō, who was still kneeling at their mercy. They pushed him down and sat on him to hide the problem from their teacher with nervous giggles.

"You're heavy," Shō whispered.

"Rude, aren't you?" Junko quietly balked. "Just keep quiet."

"No, nothing at all. Sorry for making so much noise." Asuka covered them up to eliminate some suspicion from their headmistress.

"I see. Well then, you should all return to your rooms and get some rest," she reminded and retreated back to her own. Junko, Momoe and Nao stood up from Shō and gathered around Asuka.

"I have a little plan in mind. Someone had intended on calling out Yuki Judai under my name and set him up as a pervert," Asuka summarized and proposed to lure him out themselves. She sounded like she wanted to prove something from Judai. They created an anonymous message for him via PDA and dragged Shō to where they would meet up with him. He hastily arrived and Shō whimpered, "Big Bro..."

"Shō, what's going on here?" he asked.

"Well, if I told you, it'd either be a very long story or a very short story," he avoided his question, but Junko answered it for him.

"He was peeping into the girls' bathhouse!"

"I said I didn't peep!" Shō complained, which confused Judai even more.

"If the academy finds out about it, he'll definitely get expelled," Momoe warned.

"Hey, you. Want to duel with me?" Asuka offered. "If you defeat me, I'll look past the whole "peeping in the bathhouse" incident."

"But I'm telling you! I didn't peep!" Shō repeated, getting frustrated, but as soon as Judai was asked for a duel, he immediately accepted.

"I don't know what's quite going on, but whatever. I accept your duel!" The girls pushed Shō into Judai's boat as they climbed into another, so that the duel would be held on the lake. Realizing that Nao had never seen Asuka's dueling style, she became very interested in the duel, ignoring the circumstances that are placed. While watching her gain the upper hand with her Cyber Blader, all the worries she had from today were forgotten.

Asuka's deck was themed with classy femme fatale warriors with daring special abilities, suiting her personality.

"You've got some nerve!" Junko called out to Shō, who was constantly cheering for Judai.

"Want to try swimming in the lake naked?" Momoe teased.

"That's sexual harassment!" Shō countered.

"What are you talking about?" Junko argued. "A peeping tom doesn't have any right to say something like that!"

"I didn't peep, darn it!" No matter how many times Junko and Momoe accused him of peeping, Shō continued to fight for his innocence, which was slightly tainted because of the fake letter.

Judai finally brought his ace monster, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman, but Asuka's Cyber Blader continued to dominate him with her equip spell. When Nao thought that the thrill of the duel couldn't satisfy him more, he introduced his second Fusion Monster, Thunder Giant, which automatically destroyed Cyber Blader with his special effect. Judai inflicted a direct attack to earn his victory, while Nao tried to balance the boat his monster created. When Asuka's life points hit zero, Junko and Momoe asked whether she would be alright. Nao gazed at Judai in shock. There was something about his deck that constantly answered his needs during the duel. She didn't believe in coincidences, but Judai may have been clueless about his opponent's strategies, but he still pressed on with his own strength. How he was able to pull the stunt, Nao could not fathom.

"Shō will be coming back with me, just like we agreed," Judai reminded.

"Go right ahead. I'll keep our agreement, and I'll keep quiet about what happened today," Asuka kept her word, but Junko still felt like a poor sport

"You shouldn't get too ahead of yourself, since you won by a fluke!"

"Quit it, Junko. A loss is a loss, so don't be so upset about it."

"No, maybe she's right," Judai said. "You're strong." Asuka was taken aback as he and Shō sat down in their boat and rowed away back to their dorm. "See you."

As the girls rowed the boat back to the shore, Nao could have sworn she saw someone else watching the duel when she heard the sound of water splashing around. Asuka saw her expression and asked, "Nao, what's wrong?" She shook her head and told her that it was nothing. She brushed it off and bid her friends good night, hoping that the next few days would be more bearable than today.


	4. Patience Paid

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Patience Paid**

Empowered from her encouraging stranger, Nao was able to bear the whispers behind her back a little better. Asuka was informed about it on her own and continued to give her some support by sitting beside her in class and being her gym partner. The two along with Junko and Momoe occasionally study together, especially with the promotion exams around the corner.

Nao religiously ventured to the lighthouse before curfew every day, in hopes of having another conversation with her stranger, but there were days when he wasn't there to accompany her.

On the day of the exam, while Nao vigorously wrote down her answers to the written portion of her test, Judai ran into the room thirty minutes late.

"Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!" he scolded a sleeping Shō below her. "There's no point in studying to the bone just to doze off, you jerk!" he lightly joked, which made Nao lose her concentration for a moment.

"You're being a pest, Osiris Red! Shut your trap!" Manjōme shot him down. "If you don't plan on taking the test, then beat it!"

"Quit joking around! I cam all this way! You think I'm just going to go back?" Judai countered, but Professor Daitokuji called out to him.

"Yuki Judai, come down here and get a testing sheet. There's not much time left." He rushed down the steps, grabbed the paper and attempted to fill it in with right answers before falling asleep with Shō.

Nao was amazed. He barely passed his classes and yet he was such a strong duelist. With the amount of questions being asked on the exam, there was almost no way he would be able to pass it. Before time was up, Nao placed her pencil beside the finished paper and heavily exhaled. The questions were fair, but the only problem she encountered was the amount there was.

"Written portion is over. In addition, the practical skills test will take place in the gymnasium at 2:00 PM!" The announcement informed. Nao was greatly startled with the students rushing out of the classrooms like a furious stampede. Of course, she remembered. There were new booster packs stocking in the shop, but she was confident enough in her deck to replace with new cards.

She eyed on Judai and Shō still snoring away and a Ra Yellow student also staying behind. He tried to wake them up, but Nao didn't want to ignore them.

"Shō! Judai! Wake up! The test is over!" she shook them awake. Shō shot up and immediately cried in defeat.

"Now I've done it. Why did I even study?"

"Don't sweat it. The skills test this afternoon is where it counts," Judai optimistically assured with a wide grin. Nao wondered whether he was actually sleeping to pull off such a lively volume.

"Where is everyone?" Shō asked.

"Is it lunchtime already?"

"They're at the store. They're getting a large quantity of brand new rare cards during the lunch break, after all," the Ra Yellow classmate informed.

"A large shipment of cards?" Shō exclaimed.

"Everybody went down there to buy some, trying to reinforce their decks for the practical skills test this afternoon," Nao added.

"What about you, Misawa? Fukugawa?"

"I'm confident in my deck as it is. I don't need any new cards," Misawa said.

"I'm also fine with my deck the way it is, too," Nao replied. Shō turned to Judai, who was interested for new cards. "I've just got to see what kind of cards they've got! Let's go, Shō!" Judai and Shō ran out of the classroom, leaving Misawa and Nao behind.

"Are they really in demand?" Nao asked him.

"Yes, to the point where military is necessary," Misawa clarified.

"I see. I don't mean to be rude, but are you really prepared for the practical exam today?"

"Yes. I've actually created many decks for different opponents." In turn, Nao was impressed.

"That must have been hard work for you," she complimented.

"No, it was relatively easy," he said modestly.

"If it was, then you should be in Obelisk."

"Thank you, but perhaps I will be if I score high enough."

"Misawa was Examinee Number 1, so there would be no problem, right?" He sheepishly smiled and told her that she was too kind. They continued to converse as they left the classroom towards their dorms to prepare.

"I hope to see you duel today, Fukugawa," he bid her goodbye and she returned it as they parted. When she arrived in her room, her PDA suddenly blinked at a new message. She took it out of her pocket and opened the mail. It was from an unknown sender.

"Do you want to come to the lighthouse before your exam?" Because she didn't know who the contact was, she couldn't reply. She retrieved her deck from her bedside table and her duel disk. She hurried out of the girls dorm and went to the lighthouse. As she expected, her stranger wasn't here yet. She sat in her spot and waited for him to come.

"How are you feeling?" he greeted.

"Just fine," she answered.

"What about your written exam?"

"A little too much with the amount of questions."

"It is how Professor Chronos evaluates."

"Is he always very biased towards Obelisk Blue?"

"Naturally."

"That was a silly question. Of course he would be." Nao held a laugh, but she could imagine him having a smirk on his face.

There was a pause when he continued the conversation.

"Your chance might come today," he gently pressed.

"I don't want to stand out," Nao confessed.

"You may not have a choice, but it may be to your advantage."

"What do you mean?"

"The whispers behind your back might cease if you showcase your true strength."

"Is it selfish if I want to finish a duel quickly?"

"Only if you think it is." With every answer she heard from him, her confidence was slowly building up. She had a question, but she was afraid that she would get a negative answer from him. She took a deep breath.

"Can you watch my exam?" she asked, nearly taking it back. She didn't get an answer, which made her heart sink in disappointment. She heard his footsteps moving away from her in evidence. After looking through her deck over and over again, she checked her PDA. With the clock informing her that it was almost time, she slipped her deck into the duel disk and walked back to the school.

Nao was placed in one of the six arenas but her opponent didn't arrive yet. She closed her eyes and repeated in her mind that she could do it. She was in Obelisk Blue and she would prove her worth, that she wasn't a high-class fraud.

"You're my opponent?" said a shrill voice. Nao opened her eyes and saw a tall girl with long magenta hair that somewhat resembled insect antennas. She wore heavy makeup and was dress profoundly in her uniform, showing off a section of her mid-drift and her cleavage. She also wore pink heels and a locket.

"I wouldn't have thought that I have to face you, the high-class fraud: Fukugawa Nao. I heard that your parents bought their way to enroll you. That is such a low crime, don't you think?"

Nao became upset, all the more to defeat her to achieve high marks.

"Kochō Ran," she identified her. Asuka told her that she was one of the most decent duelists among the girls in the academy. Chronos would want the best opponent for the Fukugawa daughter.

"I see you know me. That's such an honour," she mockingly blushed and coyly smiled. Nao looked around, hoping that her kind stranger was here, but then again, she didn't know who he looked like. She refocused her eyes towards Ran and wordlessly switched on her disk, who followed suit.

"Duel!" They started their match with four thousand life points each and five cards in their hands.

Judai and Shō arrived at the gymnasium and spotted Nao below. "Nao! You can do it!" Judai hollered. Even though it was an encouraging cheer, she felt a little embarrassed. Misawa finished his duel just in time to watch hers. Asuka, Junko and Momoe were still preoccupied with their own duels. Asuka scowled at the sight of Nao's opponent, who thought that it was unfair because Ran was a second year student.

"I'll go first. Draw! I normal summon Prickle Fairy in defense mode." Ran took the first turn. A green fairy with thorns for her arms sat in defense mode with her card placed under her. It had three hundred attack points and two thousand defense points - a typical defending monster.

**Prickle Fairy (Level 4)  
Plant Type  
ATK: 300 DEF: 2000**

"Prickle Fairy's monster effect: as long as this card is face-up on my field, my opponent cannot attack my Insect-Type monsters. I end my turn. Let me see your genius strategy, high-class fraud," she taunted, but Nao continued to frown.

"Draw. I summon Naturu Hostneedle in attack mode." A bee with leaf wings formed on her field.

**Naturu Hostneedle (Level 4)  
Insect Type  
ATK: 1800 DEF: 100**

"Next, I activate the Field Spell, Gaia Power." Nao inserted her magic card into the field card zone and the field around them turned into a clearing of a forest with a large tree to the sidelines.

"Gaia Power raises all Earth-type monsters attack points by 500, but lowers their defense points by 400 points." Because Prickle Fairy was an Earth-type monster, her defense points was reduced to sixteen hundred points. Also, Naturu Hostneedle's attack power increased from eighteen hundred to twenty-three hundred.

"Battle: Naturu Hostneedle attacks Prickle Fairy! Acid Sting!" Nao commanded her monster to attack her only defensive monster, enabling her to attack her upcoming insect monsters. Since Prickle Fairy was in defense mode, Ran didn't lose any life points.

"Prickle Fairy's monster effect: when the opposing monster chooses Prickle Fairy as an attack target, it is switched to defense mode," Ran explained. Naturu Hostneedle's defense points were at zero because of the field spell, which originally had one hundred points.

"I set one card face-down. I end my turn." She finished. Ran's frown turned into a smirk when she had her next turn.

"That's it? I expected a little more from you. My turn, draw! I activate Permanent Magic, Great Sea of Trees. When an Insect-type monster is destroyed and sent to the Cemetery, the controller can add one Insect-Type monster with the same level from their Deck to their hand." Nao felt that Ran was most definitely underestimating her. Her deck also consisted of Insect monsters, so she was going to use it to her advantage.

"I summon Pinch Batter in attack mode." It was a simple green grasshopper with a thousand attack points, but Ran didn't finish her combo yet.

**Pinch Batter (Level 4)  
Insect Type  
ATK: 1000 DEF: 1200**

"Then I activate a Magic Card, Ant Reproduction. I sacrifice Pinch Batter to Special Summon two Army Ant Tokens in Attack mode!" The two ant tokens were also Earth-type monsters and their attack points were raised to one thousand each. Nao hitched a breath when she realized Pinch Batter's ability when it was removed from the field.

"Also, when Pinch Batter is sent to the Cemetery, I'm able to Special Summon an Insect-type monster from my hand." Nao gritted her teeth, thinking that insects were such a pest.

"From my hand, I Special Summon Saber Beetle in Attack Mode!" Ran summoned a large beetle with a long horn as its blade. It had twenty-four hundred attack points, but because of Nao's field spell, it was an Earth-type monster and it gained another five hundred attack points.

**Saber Beetle (Level 6)  
****Insect Type  
ATK: 2400 DEF: 600**

"Permanent Magic Great Sea of Trees allows me to take a Level Four Insect-type monster from my Deck and add it to my hand. Saber Beetle's monster effect, when it attacks a monster in defense mode, it inflicts Piercing Damage."

From the stands, Asuka finally finished her duel, and watched Nao's practical exam. To her dismay, Nao was about to fall behind.

"Battle: Saber Beetle attacks Naturu Hostneedle! Horn Slash!" An attack with piercing damage was the same as a direct attack. As her monster was cut into two, she was stripped to eleven hundred Life Points in one turn.

"Now, Army Ant Tokens attack directly!"

"Trap Card open: Call of the Living Dead. From the Cemetery, I can Special Summon a monster in Attack Mode. Be revived, Hostneedle!" Ran stopped her attack but made an irritated noise.

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." Ran finished and gave a good laugh. "What's wrong? Am I too powerful for you, little girl? Maybe it's too dangerous for you to play with the big girls." Nao stayed silent, bottling her urge to lash out at her. It was an exam, and her emotions were no place to be displayed.

"Draw. Great Sea of Trees lets me take a Level Four Insect-type monster from my Deck to my hand. Then I activate Pot of Greed. I draw two cards from my deck." Nao scanned her hand and nodded firmly with her next strategy.

"From my hand, I activate Ritual Magic: High-Class Ritual Art. I can Ritual Summon any Earth-type Ritual monster from my hand while sending Normal Monsters from my Deck whose total Levels equal to the Level of the Ritual Monster. I send Level Six Empress Mantis from my Deck to the Cemetery to Ritual Summon Naturu Barkion in Attack Mode!" A long dragon with tree bark on its spine slithered onto her field with three thousand attack points from Gaia Power's assistance.

**Naturu Barkion (Level 6)  
****Dragon Type  
****ATK: 2500 DEF: 1800**

"I Normal Summon Naturu Spiderfang in Attack Mode." A small yellow spider with green polka dots crawled beside her Ritual Monster with modified attack points totaling twenty-six hundred.

**Naturu Spiderfang (Level 4)  
****Insect Type  
****ATK: 2100 DEF: 400**

"Battle: Naturu Barkion attacks Saber Beetle! Bark Cannon!" Her dragon ejected the thorns from its long body and projected them to the beetle, but Ran had some precautions up her sleeve.

"Trap Card activate: Lair Wire! I can remove one Insect-Type monster from my Cemetery to destroy one monster my opponent controls. I remove Pinch Batter from play to destroy Naturu Barkion!"

"Naturu Barkion's monster effect: by removing two cards from my Cemetery, I can negate the activation of a Trap Card and destroy it," she explained as she removed a monster and a magic card from her Cemetery to her skirt pocket to negate her trap card. Barkion's attack landed on the beetle, causing Ran to lose a hundred points.

"Naturu Hostneedle attacks Army Ant Token! Acid Sting!" The yellow bee stuck its stinger into the ant and destroyed it into pixels. Ran's Life Points then lowered to twenty-six hundred.

"Naturu Spiderfang can attack when my opponent had activated a Magic, Trap or a Monster Effect this turn. You had activated Lair Wire, so Naturu Spiderfang will attack Army Ant Token! Web Tangle!" The spider spat out toxic webs towards the token and destroyed it on contact, lowering Ran's Life Points to one thousand.

"I end my turn."

Asuka was pleased with Nao's comeback move, instantly turning the tables in one battle phase. Their Life Points were nearly the same, but it was Ran's turn to make a counter attack.

From another part of the stands in the gymnasium, there was a third-year student with his arms crossed and analytically gazing at the underaged student. He arrived when Nao lost more than half of her Life Points and witnessed her combo. He hoped for her endurance not to fail her during her opponent's upcoming turn.

"My turn, draw! Great Sea of Trees allows me to select one Level Six Insect-type monster from my Deck to my hand. Your Field Magic is very troublesome, so I will activate my own Field Magic: Garden of Entomophilous Flowers!"

The large tree in the sidelines withered as white flowers bloomed in its place. Without Gaia Power, Nao's monsters' attack and defense power reverted to normal.

Then I activate Magic Card Angel's Charity. I draw three cards and discard two from my hand. Next, I activate Resurrection of the Dead to Special Summon Saber Beetle. Next, I tribute Saber Beetle to summon Insect Princess!" The familiar beetle morphed into a beautiful humanoid butterfly with only nineteen hundred attack points.

**Insect Princess (Level 6)  
****Insect** **Type  
****ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200**

"Lastly, I activate Equip Spell Insect Pheromone to Insect Princess. When the equipped monster destroys a monster by battle, I can force one of my opponent's Insect-type monsters to batter the equipped monster during the same Battle Phase." Nao scanned her field and saw that two of her monsters were Insect-types. Although Ran's strategy was to send her own insect monsters to her opponent's side, Nao's deck made things a little easier for her.

"Battle! Insect Princess attacks Naturu Hostneedle. Stem Shower!" Insect Princess's wings glowed pink and fluttered a gale that destroyed her bee. Nao's Life Points lowered to one thousand, tying with Ran.

"Insect Princess's monster effect raises her attack points by 500. Due to Insect Pheromone, it forces your Naturu Spiderfang to attack. Insect Princess attacks Naturu Spiderfang! Stem Shower!" Another pink gale shattered her spider into pixels and Insect Princess's attack power totaled to twenty-nine hundred. Nao's Life Points stopped at seven hundred when Ran's turn ended.

"It seems that there's nothing else you can do now. Once I summon a new insect monster next turn, it will move to your field and I can attack it to win. Is this what you call prodigy? You are nothing but a child who think she can duel!" She taunted with an arrogant smirk. "Your parents must be foolish to think that you can be one of the top ranking students, but they are only good-for-nothing people that placed false hope on you!"

Judai's eyes widened and his brows furrowed in sympathy, feeling helpless that he couldn't do anything to stop her insults. When he first met her at the Kaiba Dome during their exam day, she looked so innocent. She didn't deserve it because he believed her skills were genuine. Asuka did admit that Ran was a good duelist, but her arrogance proved that she wasn't a good person to be around. Nao appeared to be struggling and Asuka's grip on the railing tightened with anxiety. She prayed that she wouldn't take the torment to heart.

Nao's left hand tightened into a fist, but her face didn't match the tension. Instead, only continued with her turn. "Draw. Great Sea of Trees allows me to select two Level Four Insect Monsters from my Deck to my hand. Next, I activate Ritual Magic, Nature Monarchy Ritual. By sending monsters from my hand or fiend whose total Levels equal to the Level or higher than the Ritual Monster, I can Ritual Summon it. I send Naturu Beetle and Naturu Ladybug from my hand to the Cemetery to Ritual Summon Naturu Beast!"

**Naturu Beast (Level 5)  
****Beast Type  
****ATK: 2200 DEF: 1700**

A green tiger with limbs that resembled tree trunks growled as it appeared on the field from the forest. Although it had only twenty-two hundred attack points, Nao continued her turn.

"Next I activate Magic Card Gaodrake's Mane. I select a Naturu Monster I control and its attack points become three thousand, but its effects are negated until the End Phase." Nao gave the power boost to her beast.

"I activate Naturu Ladybug's ability resting in the Cemetery. When I successfully summon a Ritual Naturu Monster, I can Special Summon it. Appear: Naturu Ladybug." A red insect flew from below the field and landed on the ground.

**Naturu Ladybug (Level 1)  
****Insect Type  
****ATK: 100 DEF: 100**

"Then, I can tribute this card to select one face-up Naturu monster on my field and it gains one thousand attack points until the End Phase." Nao added it to Naturu Barkion as its growls grew louder and aggressive.

"Two monsters with over three thousand attack points?" Ran muttered in outrage.

"Battle: Naturu Beast attacks Insect Princess! Roar of the Trees!" The green tiger took in a deep breath and a loud volume of the roar caused the humanoid butterfly to squeal and shatter. Ran's Life Points dropped to nine hundred, but she wasn't going to have her next turn.

"Kochō Ran, I do not have mercy upon those who are ignorant and shrewd, and I am not as kind when I am beaten down by those bigger than me," she warned with a soft tone before she finished the duel.

"Wait!" She tried to think of something from her hand to counter her but Nao couldn't help but exact her revenge with her last attack. "Naturu Barkion attacks directly! Bark Cannon!" Her dragon ejected the thorns from its back and rapidly projected them to Ran, who shrieked as her Life Points hit zero.

The Solid Vision from their duel disks faded out as their exam came to a close. Nao collected her cards back to her deck as her disk switched off. Ran was on her knees, mumbling in disbelief that she lost. Since other students had to take their tests, Nao quickly exited the gymnasium without meeting with any of her friends. She overheard Judai complaining that he had to face Manjōme, despite being in Osiris Red. She didn't have the heart to stay and watch his match, so she went to an empty hallway and let her tears stream down her cheeks, leaning her back against the wall. Her chin quivered from holding back her cries and she covered her eyes with the back of her hand. She heard footsteps nearing her, and took a peak to see no one. She saw a shadow looming from the corner close to her and she figured out right away that it was her stranger. Ashamed, she covered her eyes again but more tears escaped from her eyes.

"I hated her. I was able to endure the negativity towards only me, but I hated it when she decided to personally insult my parents. I didn't know how I was supposed to suppress everything during the duel but I was very angry. I wanted to make her take back everything she said but I'm too much of a coward to speak out." Nao didn't have the strength to continue her rant because her tears began to overwhelm her. He waited for her to vocally filter out her emotions before it was safe to respond to her.

"I know."

Nao didn't realize what he meant before reprocessing it through her mind three or four more times.

"I was there," he added which made realization hit her like a torrent wave. He did come to watch her duel after all. Nao's eyes were still covered when he slipped a soft fabric in her hand that obscured her face. It was a plain ivory handkerchief for her to wipe her tears. Careful not to spoil it too much, she delicately dabbed her wet cheeks while calming down.

"You may not have been tolerant right now, but you didn't do it selfishly. You still have time to grow, Nao," he assured. She sniffed once, feeling a little better but her eyes were sore from crying.

"Thank you," she said. "Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Just keep growing, and you will turn into a fine duelist. It will be enough," he answered. Nao finally smiled as her stranger's shadow disappeared back to the gymnasium along with the sound of his footsteps. She overheard loud cheers from the gym that congratulated Judai for his promotion. He was going to be in Ra Yellow now, and another step closer to achieving his goal. She wished that the crowd would cheer for her when she wins a duel fairly. She tucked the handkerchief in her pocket and went back to her dorm.


	5. Her Stranger's Identity

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Her Stranger's Identity**

Nao tossed and turned in her bed but found no way to sleep tonight. Earlier today in class, Judai and his friends, who they all remained in Osiris Red, were more secretive about something than usual. She was curious and wanted to ask, but if it was something that must be kept at a low profile, then she couldn't pry. She sat up, removed her covers and got out. She checked the time on her PDA, and reasonable thought that Asuka would still be awake. She quietly came out of her room towards her friends. She knocked as softly as she could, but there was no answer.

"Asuka?"

Nao turned the doorknob and went inside, but her room was empty. "Where did she go?" she asked herself. She closed the door without making a sound before she decided to go to the lighthouse. She used the PDA as a flashlight to light her path until she crossed the bridge. She suddenly stopped in her tracks because someone was already there. The figure was tall and solitary with teal hair and a senior uniform.

"Someone's there," her shoulders sank. She couldn't be alone there after all that night. She heaved a sigh and dismally turned back to the girls' dorm. She thought for a moment that he may have been her stranger who gave her strange company, but she denied it.

"He couldn't be."

During class hours later, Nao noticed that Asuka, Judai and Shō looked very drowsy, barely paying attention to the professors. When lunchtime came around, Nao offered her some of her own food to wake her up a little, who gratefully appreciated it. She also noticed that there was some sort of sadness in her eyes as they went through the day together, and it didn't go away when they were on their way back to the dorms.

Nao decided to pluck up the nerves and sensitively ask, "Asuka, is there something wrong?"

"No. Why do you ask?" she answered with a fragile smile.

"It's just that you seem very," she paused to find the right word, "Sad and a little lonely." Asuka was taken aback for a moment before her sullen expression told her that she was right. They passed Nao's room and went inside hers. She sat on the edge of the bed as her tall companion took out an old picture frame from her drawer. Asuka handed the photo to Nao, who studied it briefly. It was a student in an Obelisk Blue senior uniform with medium length brown hair. On the bottom right corner was a signature in English that wrote, "Fubuki 10-Join"

"Fubuki?" Nao read.

"He is my older brother," she explained when she sat beside her. "Tenjōin Fubuki."

"Is he a student here?"

"Yes, he was," she replied.

"Was? Did he already graduate?"

"No, he disappeared when he attended here," her voice dropped to a softer volume.

"I'm sorry," she apologize, who never expected an answer like that.

"It's alright. You didn't know about this so you don't need to be."

Nao gazed at the photo for another moment when she said, "You really look alike. This must be very important to you."

"Actually, Judai found this last night for me."

"Last night? What do you mean?"

"On this island, there's an Abandoned Dorm in the middle of the forest. My brother was there until he disappeared. I've been visiting the dorm to place a rose in memory of him, but last night, Judai, Shō and Hayato ventured in there in attempt to help me. There are still some blank pages of what happened back then, but I woke up to Judai handing this to me and told me he defeated the duelist that challenged him."

Nao thought it over and pieced everything together, realizing that her story matched the fact she wasn't in her room.

"Judai did?"

"He is such a busybody, but I am in debt of him. If it weren't for him, I may have lost an image of my brother in my mind."

Nao became more amused about what Judai can or cannot do. He was a strange individual with qualities that contradict each other. She handed back the frame to Asuka as they conversed through the rest of the evening over their dinner and school work. Nao left her friend's room for the night and got ready for bed. She hit the pillow and sleep welcomed her under the blanket.

Through the darkness behind her closed eyes, Nao heard a familiar and frightening noise from far away. She saw a red shadow gleaming behind her and then felt something wet gradually showering on her from above. Her line of vision began to get clearer when she realized that she was lying down on a wet and dirty surface facing darkened and damp clouds.

Nao's head began to pound as she could feel a dull ache at the back of her skull. Her conscience told her to move a finger at the very least, but her body refused to obey. Patches of the same dull ache on her head bloomed in different places of her body when the rain got heavier. Nao couldn't think; she couldn't move; but above all she couldn't remember anything.

The eyelids that were tightly shut snapped open, nearly unadaptable to the quiet of the night. Nao quickly sat up straight, but regretted it when she felt her surroundings sway in dizziness. She was breathing heavier than she usually did and wiped away some sweat off her neck. After an ominous dream that night, she couldn't go back to sleep for the second day in a row. There was something she needed that wasn't necessarily in her arm's reach, but perhaps the company of the ocean's waves may clear her mind.

Nao changed into her uniform and stole the cardigan off her desk chair. She slipped out of the girls' dorm and passed security towards the lighthouse. She pulled her cardigan tighter around her frame to keep away the autumn chill in the forest trail and across the bridge. The fog that was present during her trip ghosted around her to project her an eerie environment, but she was too preoccupied with her dream to be afraid of it. Relived that no one was there, she arrived at the edge where she usually sat and listened to the waves created by themselves. The lights the tower gleamed took shape through the mist for lost boats and the shadows she casted.

What she didn't expect in the middle of the night was footsteps that stopped on the opposite side of the lighthouse - a feat her kind stranger had accustomed to. They didn't speak to each other for what seemed like an eternity. Nao figured that something may be on his mind, and she didn't want to pry into his thoughts, just to be considerate.

"Dawn still seems so far away," he stated out loud, being the first to talk.

"I believe there is no night without dawn," Nao contrarily added.

"You speak like there is none in your own world," he lightly mused, but also seriously concerned.

"Tonight, I want it to come quickly," she confessed.

"Couldn't sleep again?" he asked. Nao gave an affirmative sound from her throat.

"A dream when it felt like a memory I shouldn't remember."

"A memory?"

"Rain was falling; my body ached while immobile, and I felt bound when I wanted to be unchained," she described.

"Dreams pass as dawn arrives."

"I suppose."

The gentle waves and her stranger's company took her mind off her insecurities. Her head began to bobble as sleep desired to heal her. Her consciousness drifted away and her heart felt lighter than only a while ago. Her back hunched and her chin met her chest as she finally rested. She could vaguely feel a pair of gentle hands move her away from the ledge and onto a broad back. The foreign arms her hooked under her knees and her head leaned against a shoulder, her cheek subtly tickled by his hair.

Marufuji Ryō encountered a familiar shadow of Asuka by the Obelisk area, who happened to make her way to the lighthouse herself. She raised her eyebrows when she saw an asleep Nao carried on his back. They stopped when they closed the distance between them.

"Where did she go?" she asked.

"She was with me. She's safe," he assured. He lowered himself to transfer Nao to Asuka's back so they could return to the girls' dorm together. Asuka's eyes softened and smiled adoringly.

"She's such a child who acts like an adult at times."

"She's trying to grow up, but maybe too fast," he noted. "She never once called me by my name. I'm still a ghost to her." Neither Nao nor Ryō ever made an attempt to look at each other face to face. A part of him wanted to still keep her company as a stranger, but he began to feel a little protective to her. In some ways, she reminded him of his younger brother, Shō, because of her innocence that was evident in her manner.

"Nao will find out sooner or later. She is very observant. Thank you, Ryō," she said while gesturing to her friend on her back. He gave her a small smile as she turned around and headed back. He watched her disappear from his sight before heading back to his dorm, too. The feeling on his arms when he carried her was still on his arms. Light as a feather, he recalled.

A stream of sunlight woke her in her room. She blankly gazed at the ceiling as she tried to remember what happened the night before. She couldn't quite put a finger on whether she stayed inside or whether she ventured somewhere outside. She checked her attire she slept in, and realized that it wasn't her nightgown, but her uniform and her cardigan. She wondered how she came back, but gave up after a while.

Nao was brushing her dark violet hair when she heard a series of frantic knocks on her door along with Asuka's voice.

"Nao! Nao! Open the door!"

She dropped her brush on her dresser and hastily opened the door. Asuka want catching her breath with frightened eyes.

"Asuka?"

"They're in trouble! Judai and Shō, they're going to be expelled!" Nao's breath got caught in her throat when Asuka gave her the news. Her eyes widened and asked her why. She stopped herself, however, when she told her about the incident at the Abandoned Dorm and the picture frame of Fubuki as evidence.

"Does that mean they were discovered because of the Shadow Duelist at the abandoned dorm?"

"If they need to avoid the expulsion, then they have to participate in a punishment tag duel. Professor Chronos is going to select their opponents!"

It wasn't fair and unnecessary. It also didn't make sense, because Asuka remembered that there was no other witnesses. She knew what she needed to do because she wasn't concerned about Judai, but Shō's self-confidence in dueling.

"I have to go to Principal Samejima and request that I take Shō's place. It's the only way to increase the chances of their victory," she proposed without giving Nao a chance to stop her. Instead, she followed her hot on her heels towards the main building. The two Obelisk girls arrived at Samejima's office in a short amount of time. Asuka told Nao to stay right outside, who nodded in understanding.

While she was waiting, Nao hoped that Asuka would be able to change his mind. The doors opened again, but Hayato accompanied her, both with defeated expressions.

"How did it go?" she asked. Asuka shook her head and Hayato lowered his.

"He said that the tag partners were chosen by the Inquiry Board, and that he had no power to change their minds. All we can do is to have faith in them," she relayed. Nao was also disappointed.

Hayato returned to the red dorms and the girls also headed back. It was the weekend and the students had no classes. Nao suddenly had a suggestion, "Maybe we can help them, Judai and Shō I mean."

Asuka turned to her with a perplexed look.

"You may not be able to be Judai's tag partner, but we can help them prepare for the duel. Judai doesn't really know what kind of deck Shō plays, so I think he may duel him to have some sort of idea. It's what he would do, right?"

Asuka thought over it for a moment before she nodded. They turned back towards the red dorm, where Hayato was looking over the cliff.

"Judai, Shō, even though there's nothing I can do," he mumbled.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Asuka said to get his attention.

"Asuka, Fukugawa," he greeted.

"I thought that them going with a Punishment Tag Duel would get him down, and yet he looks pretty happy," Nao comforted.

"Any person involved with Judai feels better than they did. I'm sure Shō will, too," Asuka added.

As Nao thought, they were going to duel to take a look at each other's decks. Shō didn't look very enthusiastic, but he reluctantly switched on his duel disk. Judai appeared to be going easy on him, but Shō seemed to be only paying attention to attack power than monster effects his cards had. Judai managed to gain the upper hand when Shō suddenly lost the will to continue the duel, because his Patroid was destroyed by Sparkman.

"Has he lost his will to fight already?" Asuka wondered. "Hang in there, Shō."

"Get it together!" Hayato suddenly hollered. "If you're getting depressed over stuff like that, you'll look even worse than a first-year repeater like me! Pull it together, Shō!"

His powerful encouragement brought Shō back on his feet as he took his turn. Nao looked over to Hayato on her right and complimented, "Looks like your cheering motivated him again, Hayato." He flushed modestly.

"Since I'm hopeless, I think I understand how other who get to be hopeless feel."

"I'm pretty sure you can understand how other feel because you're not the useless individual you think you are."

"Go figure," he muttered before looking back to the duel.

Shō continued his turn until when he drew something that astonished him. He gazed at it with frightened eyes for a while that got Judai curious. He also looked like he was about to burst into tears. He shook the feeling away as he summoned a Fusion Monster and inflicted some damage to Judai.

Judai started his turn with a Fusion Monster of his own. When Elemental Hero Thunder Giant appeared on the field, Nao analyzed the field and concluded, "The outcome is clear."

"How come? Shō's still giving it his all, isn't he?" Hayato asked.

"Thunder Giant destroys one monster with an original attack power that's lower than its own," Asuka explained its special effect, remembering that she lost against Judai because of that same monster.

"Steam Gyroid's attack power is 2200; Thunder Giant has 2400. Shō's field will be open," Nao furrowed her eyebrows at the duel, feeling sympathetic for him. Judai also summoned Burstlady to eliminate the rest of Shō's Life Points, knocking him off his feet.

"Gotcha! Shō, that sure was a fun duel," Judai said.

"I knew I'm no good. There's no way I can win that tag duel," Shō degraded himself.

"What're you talking about? The fall you took was something else, but up till then, it was a close match," he tried to be optimistic. "You also had a weird look when you drew that card. Let me see you hand." Judai took the cards he had and had the same expression Shō had when he drew it.

"Why didn't you use Power Bond? If you used it, your attack power would've been doubled. Steam Gyroid would've become a powerful monster with 4400 attack points, wouldn't it?"

"I can't play it! My Big Brother barred that card off from me!" Shō shouted. "I knew there's no way I could ever be on a tag team with you, Big Bro!" He snatched the cards from Judai and ran off. Hayato and Nao took off after him. He rushed into his dorm and locked it. Nao tried to turn the knob but it didn't open. She knocked on the door and said, "Shō, you are in there, aren't you? Please open the door." She heard some ruffling of sheets as a response.

"Shō, please open the door," she asked again, with nothing answering her.

Hayato pounded his fist on the door and said, "Shō! It's just one loss! You were giving your all! Shō!"

He didn't have the heart to answer. The two looked at each other with concern.

"What do we do?" he asked. Nao thought it over for a few moments. He may not have wanted to talk to anyone, ashamed of himself.

"Maybe leaving him alone would be best," was all she could suggest.

"I guess so."

Nao trudged back to the dorms, upset for the poor Osiris Red. She thought that putting faith into both of them may not be enough for them. She also thought about Shō's Big Brother he mentioned who sealed his Power Bond card from him. It was a powerful magic card that was very difficult to use. Nao decided to use the time to do some of her own background research.

Nearby, she heard a familiar voice coming from the boys' dorm. "What are you doing?"

"Know your place, you crummy Osiris Red dropout," she heard a snide voice insulting him.

"Do you think we'd let a guy like you get near the Kaiser?" said another.

"What was that?" Judai raged on. Nao hurried her pace to the source of the argument when she heard a splash of water and some snickers from the Obelisks. When they went back into the dorm, Nao finally approached to him.

"Judai!" he turned to her.

"Nao! What are you doing here?"

"That is what I wanted to ask," she replied.

"About that," he began. Judai explained what Asuka told him which was about Shō's older brother, Marufuji Ryō, who was nicknamed "Kaiser". He was also known to be the top student of Duel Academia in his Third-Year attending. Judai said that he wanted to do whatever it takes to build up Shō's confidence so he could be his tag partner. Hayato met with them in the forest on their way back to the Red Dorm. He handed him a towel for him to dry his hair, who was still bitter towards the Obelisks he bumped heads with.

"Stop being so hasty," Hayato chided.

"Damn those jerks! This isn't gonna make me quit!" he growled. "Mark my words. I'm dueling the Kaiser!" They stopped in front of their room. Judai opened the door, but Nao was puzzled to why it was, when earlier it was locked.

Judai exasperatedly sighed. "Darn it, Shō. You stay cooped up inside all hours of the day? You're turning into Hayato!"

"Can it with the rude remarks!" he blurted as Nao followed Judai. He pulled the covers off of Shō's bed, but found that he wasn't there. Nao spotted something on the desk. She picked it up and read it in her head and then gasped.

"What is this?"

"What's up?" Judai and Hayato went to her side.

Nao read the note out loud, "This is just a short note for you guys. I, Shō, am leaving the island. Don't try to stop me, Big Bro. Life is nothing but a long goodbye!" Judai snatched the note out of her hands and crumpled it up with an angry look.

"He ran away?"

"What are we going to do now?" Hayato peered at him.

"Let's look for him!" he told the plan.

"With dinner right around the corner?"

"You'll live. Just come on!" Judai waved it off and pulled him by his sleeve. Nao also ran out of the door behind them to search for their small friend.

"Shō! Where are you?" Judai called out.

"Shō, come on out!" Hayato joined in.

"Shō! Come back!" Nao raised her voice. She followed Judai down the rock formation, but Hayato was slowly losing his breath.

"Shō, you jerk. I'm begging you, come out! Dinner's going to be over."

Judai stopped for a second when he began to speak to something. Nao was perplexed until he told them, "This way!"

"Wait, Judai!" Hayato didn't like to run. Nao ran with Judai with no time to spare until she heard Shō's voice saying, "Big Bro!" He was boarding a small unstable raft. Judai leapt into the air and landed on it. The raft broke easily and they went down under water.

"Help me! I can't swim!" he panicked.

"Hey, don't cling to me! We're gonna sink!" Judai tried to calm him down, but Nao failed to see why they think they were in danger. Hayato emerged from behind her, who tried to stop him. "Wait, Hayato! The water..." she trailed off as he splashed into the body of water, realizing that it was shallow. Judai and Shō eventually stood up together.

"Just let me go in peace, Big Bro. You don't have to worry about me. Just search for a different partner, and you'll at least escape being expelled, Big Bro."

"Quit complaining! I've made up my mind!" Judai stubbornly drilled his words into Shō. "You're my partner!"

"But I've got no chance the way I am now," he put himself down.

Nao wanted to say something but someone she would never expect beat her to it. "How pathetic, Shō!" She whirled her head to her upper left, and saw Asuka with an older student. Nao knew that voice from anywhere because her kind stranger spoke with the same. Her mind must have been playing tricks on her because the stranger she know wouldn't speak so harshly.

"So, that's Kaiser Ryō," Judai identified to Nao's astonishment. Up until now, she decided not to search for the identity of her conscience, but the image of Kaiser Ryō had dominated it.

"Trying to run away?" he said. Shō couldn't speak in full sentences, which answered for him. "That's fine by me." Nao saw him hide his face and trying to fix the flimsy raft while holding back tears, which broke her heart seeing.

"Your little brother said he's going to leave!" Judai fought.

"No helping it, I guess," Ryō dismissed.

"If that's the case, why don't you at least give him a farewell present? With a duel between you, the Kaiser, and me!"

"Judai!" Nao warned him.

"Duel with you?" Ryō repeated. He thought it over and said, "Fine. Come on up, Yuki Judai."

"Now we're talking! Shō, you'd better watch closely."

Now that he accepted his challenge, Nao's heart began to pound more intensely. Judai wanted Shō to realize something during the duel, but she was starting to have doubts. She wondered if Judai may not be able to show his full potential against the Kaiser. If he was that powerful, then he may not have a chance at all.


	6. The Handkerchief

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**The Handkerchief**

The crowd consisting of Nao, Asuka, Hayato and Shō stood by the side to witness Judai's and Kaiser Ryō's duel. Shō's anxiety was driving him over the edge, mumbling that everything was happening because of him. As much as she wanted to calm him down, she resorted that the duel would answer his questions for him.

Judai started off well, but Ryō had summoned a powerful dragon called Cyber Dragon, which was able to be summoned without sacrifices as long as he had no monsters on his field while Judai did. Nao observed that he calculated through everything from his hand, to the entire field. When Ryō activated Time Capsule and placed a specific card into it, Nao kept an eye on it thinking that it was a key card.

Judai summoned his Thunder Giant which destroyed Cyber Dragon due to its ability, but Ryō didn't flinch when more than half of his life points were deducted from a direct attack. On his next turn, as if everything was all planned, he summoned a Fusion monster, Cyber Twin Dragon, which was not only more powerful than Thunder Giant, but it could attack twice. Judai activated a trap card, A Hero Emerges, and Special Summoned another monster in defense mode. Nao caught him taken off guard, proven that Judai could surprise anyone.

"This duel is fun! Really fun, Kaiser!" he said. What Nao never thought of hearing from Ryō was that he also thought the same, leaving Shō confused as to why.

Judai summoned a Fusion Monster she never seen yet, Elemental Hero Mudballman, whose defense points were higher than Cyber Twin Dragon's. Nao suddenly remembered the card Ryō placed in his Time Capsule that was returned to his hand.

"You've shown me the utmost of your capabilities. And I, too, have been giving it my all against you. I have to give your dueling the respect it deserves," said the Kaiser. Nao finally understood how the duel ended up. Although Judai was determined to get Shō up on his feet again, it was as if Ryō was teaching something. Recalling the moves both players executed during the duel, they were truly giving it their all.

Ryō defused his monster and activated Power Bond, the same card that was barred from Shō, that fused his three Cyber Dragons to a powerful monster with 4000 attack points: Cyber End Dragon. As abominable it was, Power Bond also doubles its strength, added to its piercing ability.

"Hang in there, Judai! If you make it through this turn, you'll win this duel!" Hayato cheered.

"He's right. Power Bond has the risk of damaging yourself with the attack power that the Fusion Monster started out with at the End Phase of the turn it's activated," Asuka stated its weakness.

Judai's field had no other cards to back up Mudballman, so therefore he couldn't make it through after all, as his life points hit zero. Despite the loss, he still thought he had a fun duel. As Ryō left, he and Nao locked eye contact for a split second then broke it. Asuka followed him back to the Obelisk dorms. Shō went up to Judai when he told him, "Your big brother's incredible."

"So is my Big Bro!" he referred to Judai.

The two shared a good laugh for a few seconds. "So then, wanna go back home and build our decks?"

"Yeah," he agreed. Nao felt relieved that he finally had a change of attitude compared to earlier.

"This time, build it so you can use Power Bond, Shō."

"Got it. I'll take the bars off for sure."

Nao heard a strange sound coming from Hayato, who asked, "But the dorm's dining hall's been barred off, hasn't it?" Judai's and Shō's stomachs growled louder than his, forgetting that they hadn't eaten dinner yet either.

"We might make it in time!" Judai darted off before shooting out to Nao, "Nao! Thanks for your help! See you later!" The other two Osiris Red duelists echoed him when they turned around the corner.

"I couldn't do much," she said to herself. On the other hand, Judai had actually achieved something today for Shō, feeling satisfied herself. Aside from them, her discovery of Marufuji Ryō wasn't as itchy as the initial encounter, but she still was slightly dismayed that he had some harshness within him.

Nao didn't have the will to go back to the dorms just yet, and headed to the lighthouse instead. This time, she sat on a different ledge where Ryō would usually stand. The waves of the ocean didn't comfort her this time. The strangest thing that occurred in her thoughts was that a part of her was hoping for an ordinary man who didn't have a title; a man who wasn't so popular. She weakly kicked her legs, the heels colliding with the ledge softly and pulled out an object from her skirt pocket. The fact still didn't sink in that she was holding the Kaiser's handkerchief. When she returned to the dorm after her promotion exam, she washed and ironed it carefully before she would give it back.

"Waiting for me?" the voice called out to her. Nao picked up the strength to turn her head to Ryō walking towards her with his duel disk still equipped on his arm.

"I thought you wouldn't come yet," she answered.

"Did you want to be alone?"

"Yes," she said but gave her reason, "But my stranger would be gracious to keep me company." She tried to make a small joke, and Ryō managed to smirk a little.

"Your stranger?" he quoted.

"Yes, a kind stranger who told me that I still have time to grow into a fine duelist."

"It wasn't a lie," he clarified, which made her feel a little better.

"May I be honest?"

"About what?"

Nao averted from his gaze. "I was somewhat hoping for a person who didn't have to carry so much prestige," she professed. "Not once I considered that the stranger who gave me this handkerchief to be the Kaiser." She caressed the soft material as she spoke.

"How ironic," he pondered. "Fukugawa Nao, you come from a family that defines prestige and when we conversed, you spoke so politely. Your honest opinion, I should be saying it to you."

"Are you offended?"

"I don't see anything to be offended from."

"Then, please take it as a compliment." Ryō gave a brief chuckle.

"I will, if you could do one thing for me." Keeping a respectable distance from her, he moved closer and knelt down on one knee to match her height. "Can you look at me properly while you speak?"

Nao tried her very best to ignore her flushed cheeks when she slowly raised and turned her head to meet Ryō's. She anticipated that he would be too intimidating for her, but there was a certain serenity between them that she liked. The two weren't smiling, but they weren't frowning either. She felt in her heart that he wasn't a stranger to her, nor was he "Kaiser Ryō". He was only Marufuji Ryō, a friend who was guiding her through her first year safely. Nao eyed on the cloth in her hands and held it out to him.

"I didn't return this yet. Thank you, Ryō, for letting me cry at that time. Even though I couldn't entirely respect my opponent, I was grateful that you came to watch my exam." He actually didn't mind if she kept it, but she was thankful. Technically, he couldn't turn it away. It was admiration and friendship of an underclassman that he appreciated. He took the handkerchief from her hand, brushing his fingers against hers.

"You've already thanked me, but I'll accept this back from you."

"I didn't want my tears to stain it, so I washed it."

"Handkerchiefs are made to absorb tears," he said, "But your kindness is still evident from this." All the doubts that she had from his harsh words to Shō seemed to have faded away, little by little. Perhaps, Ryō and the kind stranger would match after all.

The following day, Asuka and Nao helped Judai and Shō polish their decks for the Punishment Tag Duel. They sorted out strategies and combos that could be functional and weeded out the cards they may not need. Their main goal was for two decks to enable Shō to use Power Bond efficiently and effectively. They worked their way from the morning until nighttime with Judai nearly forgetting to eat his dinner.

Asuka and Nao were walking back to their dorms when the younger peered up at the older. Although the strategies were all brainstormed and solidified, Asuka still appeared to be troubled.

"What is it, Asuka?"

"I'm worried for Shō. He is nearly ready, but his confidence isn't quite there yet. Their decks have improved today, but it wouldn't matter if the duelist can't perform them with timing."

Nao smiled to herself and said, "I think they will win. Judai will be by his side. Their bond has gotten stronger after Judai's duel with Ryō."

Asuka agreed with it because she also witnessed the change in Shō's eyes after the duel. If it hadn't been for Judai, then Shō wouldn't be where he was at today.

"There is one more problem. No one but Professor Chronos knows who their opponents will be."

Nao admit that she had forgotten about it. "Could they be from Duel Academia?"

"If Professor Chronos is choosing them, I think he would go out of his way to find a strong pair outside of the school."

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"Professor Chronos has pride for Obelisk Blue. It was shattered when Judai defeated him during his entry exam."

"So ultimately, is it for his own satisfaction?"

"Perhaps," Asuka shrugged, but in the end, she had faith in Judai. As long as he would feel the passion of dueling and continue to smile, she was sure that he would win.

Finally, the day of the Punishment Tag Duel arrived for everyone in Duel Academia. The rumors of Judai and Shō at the risk of expulsion spread like wildfire over the past two days, and many wanted to watch them try to fight for their rights to stay.

From the stands, Misawa Daichi waited patiently for the duel to begin with a stern face. He respected Judai for declaring himself as Number 1, but he wanted to see whether he could keep up his self-proclaimed status. Nao and Asuka found and approached him. The two wouldn't have to guess what he may have been thinking.

"A Tag Duel," Nao said, "Judai said he had never been in one before."

"Fukugawa," he greeted her, "And you must be Tenjōin Asuka from Obelisk Blue." They took their seats near him.

"It seems you have somewhat of a connection to Judai, as well," Asuka noted.

"Right."

"It's my fault this happened and he should have really been partnered with me. But even so, I have a feeling he'll manage to pull through."

Nao spotted something from the other side of the arena as Judai and Shō made their appearance. Manjōme angrily kicked the seat in front of him by from what seemed like hatred. After her exam, she overheard some Obelisk students talk about how he lost against Judai during the promotion exams, despite using the rare cards he added to his deck. She remembered on her entrance exam day when he whispered amongst his two friends about her. She did her best to avoid him throughout the year.

Nao also found a peculiar person standing at the back of the seats, watching over the two Osiris duelists. Ryō had his arms crossed and an unreadable expression. Nao assumed that he came to see how much his younger brother grew. She was happy, but at the same time, she couldn't imagine the pressure Shō may be feeling.

"Well then, we will now begin this tag duel!" Chronos announced, which elicited a round of applause from the audience.

"So, will they be facing a teach or an Obelisk Blue student?" Principal Samejima asked from behind. "Or could you be the one dealing with things again?"

"Not quite. We are having this duel to deliberate their punishment for breaking school rules by entering the off-limit zone. Their opponents must be duelists appropriate for that task. In order to give you impudent ones a thumping, I have invited some legendary duelists!"

Suddenly from below, a pair of acrobatic men leapt onto the arena in perfect synchronization. Nao recognized the orange and green attire from one of her father's newspapers, and clenched her hands into fists. Of course, Chronos would be so manipulative to obtain his goals.

"We are the Roaming Guards!" said Mei, the orange clad.

"The Meikyū Brothers!" said Kyū, the green clad.

"Whoa, is this a Hong Kong movie?" Judai wondered, much to his cluelessness.

"Could these people be our opponents?" Shō asked himself.

"They are legendary duelists known for having fought against the Duel King, Mutō Yugi," Chronos gave some background for their opponents.

Where Nao was sitting, she muttered under her breath, "Why them?" She remembered her father showing her some news articles about them when she was young, introducing her to some famous duelists.

Asuka overheard her and said, "I've heard of them. They are sibling duelists who gave the Duel King a hard time with their invincible combinations."

"Those two don't have a chance against opponents like that," Misawa added gravely.

"We hold no grudge to thee, but," declared Mei.

"We are locked in battle for reasons of our own," finished Kyū.

"If you cannot defeat us..."

"Your path will remain blocked!"

"Now, come and fight us!" they challenged in unison.

"This is quite the drastic measure. It's really them... it's really them," Samejima was fascinated.

"But, Principal! These two need opponents of this caliber!" Chronos unknowingly reasoned. "For one thing, it would be setting a bad example for the other students."

"Interesting. Then, I'll allow it," he approved, excited for the tag duel. "For starters, he's into the idea." He nodded his head at Judai behind Chronos.

"This is fun! I can't believe we'll be fighting against legendary duelists who fought against the Duel King!" Judai pumped his fists and couldn't hold his excitement. Chronos sighed but continued on.

"Now, both sides, get into position!"

The crowd cheered, who were just as thrilled as the Osiris Red duelist. He turned to Shō and told him to take a deep breath. "I'll be counting on you, Shō." He gave a shaky nod in return.

"You cannot give advice to your tag partner. Also, you can treat your partner's field as your own field. Understand? Each tag team will share 8000 Life Points! So then..." Chronos went over the tag team rules.

"Duel!" They started.

Since no one was permitted to attack during their first turn, each player summoned a monster starting from Shō, followed by in order Mei, Judai and Kyū. The latter, however, activated a magic card that sacrificed Mei's monster to special summon a Level 7 monster from his hand: Wicked Wind Lord - Hyuga.

Nao expect no less from the Meikyū brothers, and it may have taken years to practice over and over again until they know their decks by heart.

"He used his tag partner's monster as a sacrifice to call out a powerful monster," Misawa said.

"This kind of cooperation on the first turn is simply amazing," Asuka added.

"Their strategies proved that their partnership between them is strong. I wonder whether Judai and Shō could match up to it," Nao questioned.

"Thank you, elder brother," Kyū said.

"Do not mention it. I would make any sacrifice for you." Mei assured.

"No, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't give you something in return." Kyū activated a second magic card to designate a card in his brother's deck and add it to the latter's hand. Mei gave a dark chuckle.

"I thank you. Naturally, I have Sanga in my deck. Allow us..."

"To give you a lesson..."

"In the true essence of tag dueling!" they finished together.

It was finally Shō's second turn, which he fused his Gyroid and Steamroid to Fusion Summon Steam Gyroid. "I haven't overlooked anything yet. It was the elder of you Meikyū Brothers that made the sacrifice for the Wicked Wind Lord - Hyuga's summoning. That means there aren't any monsters to defend the elder's field!"

Nao wished that he was completely right because he forgot to take into consideration the special effect of the Wicked Wind Lord - Hyuga.

"Steam Gyroid, attack the elder Meikyū directly! Go!"

Kyū, as anticipated, activated its effect which reduced damage from an opponent's monster to zero, once per turn. Despite the misunderstanding, Shō ended his turn with one set card.

After Mei drew his next card, he used the same tactic as his brother to special summon another Level 7 monster similar to the one already out on the field: Wicked Water Lord - Suga. He also borrowed some strength from his brother by tributing Kaiser Sea Horse, which was treated as two sacrifices for a Light-type monster, to advance summon Wicked Thunder Lord -Sanga.

"What a combo," Misawa marveled.

"No, it's not quite over yet," Asuka countered.

"They summoned all three Wicked Lords on their field, which means they haven't revealed their ultimate monster yet," Nao analyzed.

"That makes all of them..." Mei snickered.

"Now, we shall show you our ultimate monster!" Kyū introduced.

"When Wicked Water Lord - Suga, Wicked Thunder Lord - Sanga, and Wicked Wind Lord - Hyuga are all on the field, by offering all three as sacrifices, I summon Gate Guardian!" The three Wicked Lords' character symbols glowed bright until they merged into a large monster that resembled the combination of all the pieces with 3750 attack points. Mei attacked Shō's Steam Gyroid and inflicted their first hit.

"Their decks were built specifically for tag duels," Misawa said. "They've left no gaps in it as would be expected."

"And since they're brothers, they're in total sync with each other," Asuka added.

"Since they are already at an advantage, Judai and Shō can't keep up with them," Nao finished, but that wasn't the only odds against them. Shō is unfortunately the weaker link between them, and the Meikyū Brothers could be using that to make things easier for them.

Judai's turn came after, and he also summoned another new Fusion Monster: Elemental Hero Rampart Gunner by combining Clayman and Burstlady. It had a special ability that enables it to attack directly while in defense position, but the attack power is cut in half when inflicted. During Kyū's next turn, he equipped Meteor Strike to Gate Guardian so it could inflict piercing damage. Shō tried to destroy it with a Quick-Play Magic but Mei countered with Judgment of Anubis to negate it, destroy an opponent's monster and dealt that monster's attack power as damage. Lastly, Kyū summoned Defense Wall that automatically became an attack target as long as it was in defense mode.

"For attacking, Gate Guardian. For defending, Defense Wall," Misawa scanned.

"They've built an impregnable field perfect for utilizing both tactics," Nao couldn't find any gaps through their line of defense.

"They know the ins and outs of tag dueling. Yet, in comparison," Asuka trailed off as she glanced back and forth at both partners. Nao furrowed her eyebrows as she saw Shō trembling as he summoned Cycroid in defense mode and end his turn. Mei didn't have the luxury to go easy on him and attacked with Gate Guardian, dealing piercing damage. Shō collapsed to his knees and appeared to be losing the will to fight again.

"So, it was all futile from the start?" Misawa concluded. "For their first and sudden tag duel, they're way outmatched.

"Not only is each duelist's power important for a tag duel, but so are their combinations with their partner," Asuka agreed.

"However, an impromptu team does has its limits. The properties of Judai and Shō's decks are too different. They may not have tuned them enough for this tag duel, either," Nao said. Even though she and Asuka gave them some tips and pointers the day before, it wasn't efficient enough to execute them at the same time so easily.

"It is the end?" Misawa rhetorically asked.

"Judai," Asuka whispered.

Nao felt an evil vibe coming from where Manjōme was sitting. He seemed to be enjoying their torture too much, and she became very wary of it.

Judai raised his head with a look in his eyes that told the Meikyū Brothers that he wouldn't quit. "As long as they have cards in their decks, duelists never give up until the very end. The Duel King would be the same, wouldn't he?"

"But what about your partner?" Mei asked.

"He seemed to already lost the will to fight," Kyū observed.

Judai looked at Shō and warmly called out to him. "We can still go on, can't we? Besides, you have a card that can beat that Gate Guardian!" He summoned Sparkman and equipped it with Spark Gun that switched Gate Guardian's battle position.

"What's the point in switching it to Defense mode?" Misawa was puzzled as to why. "It's just going to go back into Attack mode next turn."

Nao felt something click into her brain, thinking that switching Gate Guardian into defense mode may be the key.

"You may have put it in Defense mode, but Gate Guardian's defense power is 3400. You two shouldn't be able to beat it," Mei said.

"Furthermore, if you can't beat my Defense Wall, you cannot lay a finger on any other monsters," Kyū reminded. Judai set a card face-down to end his turn. Kyū also set down a card and finished his turn. "I'll leave the rest to you," he said.

"Just leave it to me. I'll end this the next turn around," Mei assured.

Shō faced Judai and asked, "Why did you choose me as your partner, Big Bro? I'm just dragging you down. And if Asuka was your partner, none of this would have happened."

"You like dueling, right? You enjoy yourself when you duel, and you treat all your cards with care. It's that quality that makes me think you and I are alike. I managed to make it into this Duel Academia, and I want to duel some more and have some more fun. I also want to duel you again, too!" Nao remembered when they dueled one more time after tinkering their decks. Shō kept a big smile on his face while using his cards carefully and respectfully. Judai was right; their passion for dueling was what made them very similar.

"But, beating these two comes first. We can defeat them. Let's tear it up!" Shō took a deep breath and his eyes changed. There were some cards in his deck that Judai honestly wanted and smiled. He summoned Drillroid that was able to destroy a defense position but damage calculation still applied.

"I knew that Defense Wall would receive the attack but that wasn't what I was really after! From my hand, I activate a Magic card, Shield Crash! This card's effect destroys one monster on the field that's in Defense mode!" Gate Guardian was in defense mode so the effect worked.

"Who would have thought they'd beat the Gate Guardian?" Misawa mused.

"We figured they didn't refine their decks, but that might have been for the best," Asuka said.

"They don't have tag team decks like the Meikyū Brothers, but with the strong points of each other's decks in mind, they worked in tandem well," Nao explained.

"I think it's all right for there to be tag teams like that," Asuka agreed.

Shō set a card and ended his turn. The Meikyū brothers appeared to have underestimated them, so Mei decided to bring a new powerful monster to quickly end the duel. He paid half of their Life Points to special summon Guardian of the Darkness - Dark Guardian from his deck.

"An attack power of 3800?" Nao exclaimed.

"This is no good! If this connects, Judai and his friend will lose!" Misawa held his breath. Before Dark Guardian's attack destroyed Shō's Drillroid, Judai activated Hero Barrier which saved it from battle destruction. Nao's lips curled upward slightly at his stunt, amused that he still have surprises up his sleeve during this long duel. That reminded her that Shō hadn't used a specific card yet, which meant that they could win if they used it.

Judai activated a field spell, Fusion Gate, and used it right away to Fusion Summon yet another new and powerful monster: Elemental Hero Tempester.

"He's reached this point, but Judai's still not giving in!" Misawa was astonished but impressed.

"But, even so, he can't beat Dark Guardian," Asuka compared the attack points between Dark Guardian and Tempester.

"No, Judai hasn't finished yet," Nao muttered to herself. He switched Fusion Gate with Skyscraper Field Spell, and raised Tempester attack points by one thousand. Both attack points were the same but they were not destroyed in battle. Kyū activated Single Combat that forced the strongest monsters to attack. Because Tempester destroys one of its controller's set cards to prevent destruction, Asuka noted that he didn't have any cards on the field he could send to the Cemetery to activate it. Judai sent Skyscraper to the Cemetery, but they still took damage from the battle phase.

Judai gave Shō a knowing look, teaching him something from that battle. The smaller boy glanced at his brother, and drew his next card.

"I offer Drillroid as a sacrifice to summon UFORoid. Then, from my hand, I activate a Magic Card, Power Bond!" Nao's eyes brightened that he finally used it. She checked the Meikyū Brothers' field for any set cards and found none. Shō was able to lift the bars off his card.

"This card is a Fusion Magic for Machine-types. It'll fuse together UFORoid and Tempester! Come forth UFORoid Fighter! Its' attack power is the total attack power of its two Fusion-Material monsters. Next, Power Bond's effect activates: It doubles the attack power of the special summoned Fusion Monster!" UFORoid Fighter already had 4000 attack points, and since he used Power Bond, it rose to 800 points.

"Big Bro made me realize through example. Even if a monster can't be destroyed, the damage will pass right through." Shō commanded his ultimate Fusion Monster to attack and take the rest of the Meikyū Brothers' Life Points to win the duel.

"Thank goodness. Now, those two can remain at the academy," Misawa indirectly congratulated them. Asuka was also pleased but a thought occurred to her.

"Even though he'll turn into a tough rival, you're still happy?" she asked him.

"What about you?" he asked back.

"I would just feel guilty if they got expelled because of me," she retorted, "But I'm glad now."

Nao was also relieved that their charges were cleared, but held back a giggle when Judai glumly expressed that a thirty-page report on dueling strategies was worse than a duel. She looked up at Ryō on the other side of the arena and saw some approval in Shō. He left without a word, but Nao thought he may have been proud of him. The audience, including herself, applauded for their victory with the exception of Professor Chronos and their opponents.

Indeed, Fukugawa Nao did have a peculiar friend who nearly fails his classes but excels in dueling higher than most.


	7. The Pride of a Duelist

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**The Pride of a Duelist**

Feeling more determined after the Punishment Tag Duel, Nao continued her daily routine at Duel Academia. She, Asuka, Junko and Momoe would sit together in class and occasionally glance at a snoring Judai below. Nao would spend some girl company with Asuka until nightfall and sneak off to the lighthouse regardless of whether Ryō would come or not.

When class was dismissed before lunch, Asuka asked whether Nao would be joining her, she shook her head.

"You're not coming?"

"No, I have to go down at the card shop."

"Are you getting a new pack?"

"I am actually looking for a case to place my side deck in."

"Do you want some company to go with you?" Asuka implied on the bullying that still happened to her. She was surprised she was able to bear with it better than how she usually dealt.

"I will be fine," Nao smiled. Asuka shook the doubt away when she saw how sure she was.

"All right. I will see you next class." As Asuka, Junko and Momoe left, Nao double-checked her PDA for her shopping list before leaving the classroom herself. She was walking briskly through the hallway until someone stuck his leg out, tripping her. She landed on her knee first before catching herself with her palms.

"Watch where you walk, high-class fraud," someone snickered.

"She's not high class if she tripped your foot, Manjōme," said another.

From her skirt pocket tumbled her deck case that contained her irreplaceable cards. Manjōme spotted it on the floor and snatched it before she could retrieve it. Nao tried to calm herself before brushing her legs while standing.

"What now?"

"Please give my deck back," she politely requested.

"So, this is your deck?" he mused while opening the case. He skimmed through her cards with a scowl itching to form.

"Give back my deck, please," she said again.

"You're in Obelisk Blue and you use these weak monsters? How stupid. Only a true Obelisk, male or female, uses powerful monsters to crush our opponents, but these cards don't look so intimidating at all!" Manjōme tossed her cards in the air, much to her horror. There was a small crowd forming with mixed reactions from different ranks. Nao still did nothing to fight back, even when he dropped the now empty case on her head.

"You're underage, bribed your way into the academy and still you act as if you have done nothing wrong! You don't belong here, high-class fraud: Fukugawa Nao of the deceiving Fukugawa Family! Your family name means nothing here!" he revealed to all the witnesses. Nao still didn't understand why he was doing this. She figured that almost everyone in Duel Academia knew her background and were more likely to believe the rumors that may have been true.

In the middle of the swarming students, Judai and Shō overheard Manjōme throwing insult after insult at Nao. The two-toned brown-haired boy found the bully very despicable, contrary to what Manjōme thought. He was also getting frustrated that Nao wasn't fighting back at all.

"What's the matter? You're not going to cry, will you?" he taunted with a dark chuckle, stepping on the deck case and destroying it. He picked up a familiar Ritual Monster, Naturu Barkion, from the floor and held it up for her to see.

"You're not going to cry if I tear this in half, will you?" Nao choked on her breath. She tried to take it back, but he held it high above her head as she jumped up and down to get it back. He pushed her away harshly and was about to legitimately rip it. Before he could, someone stole it from his fingers in a moment.

Judai kindly handed the card back to Nao's small hand before he gave Manjōme a perplexed stare. "What are you thinking, Manjōme? Bullying someone smaller than you isn't that fair, you know?"

Manjōme gritted his teeth at the sight of the very duelist that defeated him during the promotion exams.

"This isn't your business, dropout boy."

"Manjōme," Nao finally spoke out with her head down. The two boys turned to her, and waited for what she was about to say next.

"Duel me," she shakily challenged.

"Duel you?" he repeated. "You can't defeat me with those weak cards. You are ten thousand years too early to duel me, high-class fraud. Know your place in Obelisk Blue." He scoffed and stalked away from a defeated Nao and by-standing Judai. The crowd whispered among themselves as they dispersed away. Shō also stayed behind.

Judai bent down and gathered the fallen cards into his hands, straightened them and placed her deck into her hands, who was still nearly speechless at his appearance.

"Be careful with your deck, Nao. They're precious cards, aren't they?" he complimented, but she didn't smile back, nor did she answer him. She eyed on her broken deck case and felt her heart going dry.

"Don't mind what Manjōme said. He's just bitter that I defeated him fairly back then and wanted to take out his anger on you."

"Big Bro's right. He has a bruised pride," Shō added.

"Those jeers he inflicted me," she spoke in a trembling voice, "He didn't lie." Judai and Shō was taken aback at what she hinted. Nao took the chance to flee from the comfort she was given, clutching on the cards he gave back for her and held back the tears that were flooding into her eyes. She ran through the halls and into the card shop where thankfully, only one or two students were there. She found where the deck boxes were displayed and hastily collected two plain purple cases from the shelf.

Nao went up to the counter and placed the items on top. A large elderly woman greeted her with a smile she couldn't return. Tome was written on her name tag. Seeing some discomfort from her young customer, she ducked down for a second and pulled out a card to slip inside one of the cases, unbeknownst to her. She handed exact amount the price asked and respectfully thanked Tome before leaving with a rain cloud over her head. Tome put her hands on her hips, confident that the card she gifted her would brighten her spirits.

Nao stored her deck into one of the new cases before she would forget. She lost her appetite long ago but she was stuck with nothing to do to kill time. Her next class was physical education, but it was some time away. She went back to her dorm to drop off her second deck box in her room, but stopped at a peculiar item on her doorstep. Ryō's handkerchief was neatly folded for her to claim before someone else did. She was confused as to why until she recalled the brutality Manjōme tormented her with. He may have overheard, or worse oversaw the incident. Being a stubborn one, she couldn't cry again. Despite her resolve against Ryō's offer of consolation, she dropped off her deck boxes in her room and left with the handkerchief in her pocket instead.

During her next class, Obelisk girls were pitted against Osiris Red students in a game of slopitch baseball. To Nao's mild surprise, a good portion of her team was athletic, including herself, which made both teams almost at an equal match. There was a competitive atmosphere between them, which motivated each player to do their best. Nao forgot the bullying incident with Manjōme and got lost in the heat of the game.

"Big Bro! We're counting on you!" Shō hollered.

"All right, just leave it to me!" Judai answered with the bat ready in his grip. "If I fire another one out of here, add one, two three run, and I'll have this all settled!"

Nao hurried out of the washroom and stopped the current pitcher, Momoe from throwing the ball just yet.

"Hold the game, please!" she shouted.

"Nao! Perfect timing! Can you switch with me?" Momoe requested tiredly.

"Sure."

"Okay, you're on it, then," she winked and slapped her hand to tag out. Nao put on a left-handed glove and caught the ball Momoe tossed her. "Pitcher change! Fukugawa Nao is pitching!"

Judai took his position again and said, "So, you finally showed up, Nao. But still, I'm gonna drive your pitch all the way there!" He stopped when he caught eyes with her fierce pair. "Relax a little, though. You look angry at me!"

"I'm not angry!" she flustered, "But, you won't be hitting any of my pitches. After all, whether I am left-handed or right-handed, the results will be the same, Judai." Nao smirked a little as she readied her arm and threw it with a breakneck velocity.

"Here I come, Judai!" As she anticipated, he earned himself three strikes and the last out before the teams switched.

"Aw, come on!" he cursed.

Judai pitched this time, but Nao failed to see why he was sloppily throwing them to give the girls walks. Shō called time out and approached him, "Hey, Big Bro. What are you doing? You have two outs, but you've walked three for no good reason!"

"I let them walk on purpose," he chuckled.

"Hey! That's sexism, Yuki!" A girl shouted over while eavesdropping.

"It's not that!" he denied, "If I didn't, we would get to Nao."

Shō still did not understand his intentions. "Big Bro, you let three people walk just because you wanted to challenge Fukugawa?"

"Sure did. I gotta get my payback from him, after all! Nao, this time, I'm striking you out!"

Nao put on the helmet and fiddled with her bat. "You can't do that, either. The Fukugawa family favorite pastime is traditionally baseball. I'll repeat it again: the results will be the same."

"I'm not going easy because you're a girl, Nao."

"I'm not going easy because you're right-handed, Judai!"

Asuka and Junko were at second and third base respectively, cheering her on to bring them to home base. "You can do it, Lefty Nao!"

"Let's do this!" Judai said with fire blazing in his eyes.

"Bring it, Yuki Judai!" she shot back.

"Here it is, Nao! Take this! I'm a Hero!" He shouted. After releasing the ball, he stumbled a bit to the side, but nonetheless, Nao hit a home run. While running as fast as she could, she was startled by a sudden crash outside of the arena. Asuka and Junko made it to home base, but the sound of Professor Chronos's yelling made Nao's blood run cold at her mistake. She ran off the court towards the debris where Judai, Shō and Chronos were.

"Not you again! The dropout boy!"

"We're sorry!" Shō quivered.

"Are you all right, Professor Chronos?" Judai asked.

"I'm sorry! I was the one who hit it!" Nao called out over to Chronos, whose eye made a home for the ball. Thankfully the softball wasn't as hard as a real baseball because the damage would have been devastating.

"Signora Nao," his voice softened the slightest. He shot up on his feet and straightened his back. "Signora Nao is known as the Genius Girl of Obelisk Blue, isn't that right? I could probably use her as Manjōme's replacement," he mused to himself.

"Will my father be footing your doctor's bill, sir?" she timidly offered him. He spun around and declined, "Non! Non! Non! Non! The academy is tolerant towards high-achieving Obelisk Signoras. Instead," he stopped when spotting Judai and Shō trying to listen.

"This has nothing to do with you two!" he howled. "Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! Sashisuse-shoo!" he chased them out with an Italian twist. When Judai and Shō fled, Chronos turned to Nao, who dreaded to what he was going to propose.

"So, Signora Nao, despite the interference, there will be a condition in place of my doctor's fee. And that is..."

During her last class of the day, Nao and Asuka walked into the room together and took their seats. Manjōme arrived shortly after, not forgetting to gleam at her tauntingly. After her conversation with Professor Chronos, she wasn't fazed.

"Hey! Drink and massage, over here!" he ordered as he lounged on his seat.

"What's with him?" a group of Obelisk Blue boys muttered.

"What's the matter?"

"What is he thinking? Who does he think he is?" they whispered. Nao was puzzled to what was going on and discreetly listened.

"Hey, damn it!" he pressed.

"Manjōme, where are you sitting?" another fellow Obelisk came up to him with a confused look.

"Where?" he quoted.

"This isn't your seat anymore, you know. So, move it," he told him.

"What are you talking about? My name's right here on this seat..." he trailed off when he was a memo posted on the top of his desk say that it was "empty" as he read.

"Of course it is. You were moved to over there." The Obelisk gestured to the seat at the right corner of the room.

"What was that? A seat change?" Manjōme outraged, "And in that corner, to boot? Professor Chronos! What is the meaning of this? Why was I moved to that seat?"

The professor entered the room with the black eye marking his face and answered, "Because you, Signore, lost to an Osiris Red student. And that is not all. Signore, tomorrow, you must duel with Obelisk Blue's Fukugawa Nao with a dorm change at stake!"

"That doesn't make any sense! If I lose, I'll be demoted to Ra Yellow?" he spat.

"Now, now, take your seat - your own seat," he chastised. Manjōme heard stifled giggles from classmates around him. Unable to take the humiliation in front of the class, he dashed out of the classroom. Asuka and Nao were the only students who didn't join in. In fact, Asuka was beyond surprised at the announcement and turned to her, "You're going to duel Manjōme tomorrow?"

Nao closed her eyes but didn't respond, feeling somewhat miserable. This may have been the only solution to stop the bullying, but this wasn't the treatment needed for both of them. The vibe didn't go away as the class progressed into the evening when she and Asuka were in the former's room with cards sprawled on her bed. The latter was told about the confrontation from Ryō.

"You don't have to duel him. Manjōme may not be worth it," she said.

"Professor Chronos said that this was the only way to compensate his doctor's bill. It is also my own fault that the ball hit him today."

"But this may not turn out well for you. Nao, even though Judai defeated him, he's a strong opponent."

"If I refuse the challenge, then Manjōme will always disregard me as a high-class fraud."

"But you're not. I may not know the truth about your enrollment, but no one deserves to be put down by anyone."

Nao became silent, but reached to her drawer and took out her second deck box that contained her extra cards.

"If I truly don't deserve to be bullied, then I can't hold back tomorrow. Like Shō, I have some cards I barred myself from, just in case." She took out a card that was in a white sleeve and studied it.

Asuka then caught her attention with her saying, "I don't think I've seen this card in your deck before." Nao looked up from her card and she was handed another.

"This card..." she mumbled as she read the description. Asuka was right; she never had this card in her deck or her side deck, but it turned into a key card for an anticipating duel.

In the Obelisk Blue boys' dorm, Manjōme sat on his couch facing the television screen with two older men that resembled him. They were in a video phone call sharing a serious conversation.

"Jun," Chōsaku started.

"Yes," he replied.

"You do understand, right?"

"Yes, Big Brother Chōsaku, Big Brother Shōji."

"My hands have been so tied with my election campaign, and Shōji's as well with his banking settlements that we haven't had the time to contact you."

"You're at the top academically, right. Jun?" Shōji demanded. "Our Elder Brother is at the top in the political world, while I am in the financial world. Jun, we have plans to have you rule the card game world and dominate the world with the Manjōme family! You understand, don't you, Jun?"

"The future of the Manjōme family is riding on your shoulders," Chōsaku reminded before they cut the connection to leave him alone.

Manjōme was pondering about the possibilities that could happen tomorrow. His family was well aware that the card game world was dominated by the Fukugawa family, whose Head Leader was the chairman of a branch of card distribution from Industrial Illusions. That Head Leader was Nao's father. His brothers weren't aware that he was going to face against her tomorrow, but if they did, then the burden he had to carry wouldn't have been bearable. He was almost positive that he couldn't be defeated by a deck filled with low-level monsters, washing away all his doubt he thought of. Manjōme looked over his deck and recalled some of the monsters his opponent had. Although he wouldn't have to adjust anything, he wanted to insure his victory.

The next morning, Nao didn't feel the need to eat something. Looking through her deck the night before put stress on her mind. She refreshed herself and equipped her duel disk. When she put her case containing her deck in her pocket, the soft fabric already inside touched her fingers. She smiled inwardly, feeling that Ryō would still watch over her.

She was about to enter the empty Obelisk arena, Judai and Shō frantically ran up to her. Misawa also followed close behind.

"So it's true? You're dueling Manjōme?" he asked.

"That can't be..." Shō muttered.

"It can't be helped though," Nao said.

"Is this for your vendetta?" Judai referred to yesterday, but she shook her head.

"It's not about that. This duel has been authorized by Professor Chronos."

"Professor Chronos?" Shō exclaimed.

"If I defeat him, then he will be demoted to Ra Yellow."

"What will happen if you lose?" Judai asked.

"He didn't say," she looked away and went inside where Chronos and Manjōme were waiting.

"Signora Nao, you have arrived," the professor greeted. Manjōme crossed his arms and gave a wicked grin.

"I thought you already ran away with your tail between your legs."

"Is this some kind of plot after you tormented her yesterday? Haven't you had enough?" Judai asked.

"What are you falsely accusing me of, Judai?" he feigned innocence. "Why would I?"

"I wonder if it's really a false accusation," another female voice interrupted from behind. Nao turned around and saw Asuka and Ryō giving him a disapproving aura.

"Asuka, Kaiser Ryō," Judai noted.

"I happened to know about it from yesterday. I heard you threatening Nao by nearly ripping one of her cards in half," she accused. "Since I was hoping it would pass, I came here to make sure of it."

"Manjōme! You have witnesses to confirm that you did it!" Judai said.

"Shut it!" he retorted. "I was about to rip one of my own cards! Was it really hers or something written on it that it belonged to her? You're going to take responsibility for accusing me when Fukugawa is the guilty culprit amongst you. What would you say to the loser of this duel getting expelled?"

Professor Chronos didn't answer but Nao put an arm in front of Judai to let her speak. She pulled out Naturu Barkion, the card that he held, and said, "This was the card you were about to tear, right? Manjōme? Very well, I'll accept the duel nonetheless."

"Nao!" Judai cried.

"Manjōme has every right to call me guilty and I will accept those conditions. Judai, I'm sorry for making you worry," she gave a sad smile. "But it's okay. His insults don't bother me anymore now."

"Then, allow me to take your feeble deck of yours and char them into cinders with these flames of malice of mine!" He clasped his deck in his hands with dark eyes.

"Make sure you don't take back your words, Manjōme," she warned him as she stepped onto the arena. With her disk on her right arm, she tucked her deck into the holster and switched it on.

"Bring it, Fukugawa!"

"Duel!" they initiated in unison. They drew their first five cards and four thousand Life Points to start the duel.

"I'll go first and draw a card! I summon Hell Soldier in Attack mode!" A heavily-armored soldier hissed at Nao with his large sword in hand.

**Hell Soldier (Level 4)  
Warrior Type  
ATK: 1200 DEF: 1400**

"I place one card face-down to end my turn!" Nao eyed on his set card, having no doubt that it would be used for Hell Soldier.

"Draw." She looked at her sixth card and her eyes widened. It was the card that she never seen before. She tried to remember what happened yesterday when she was shopping. Of course, Tome from the card shop may have put this in. She made a note for herself to return it whether she would win or lose.

"I activate the Permanent Magic Card, Seed Shot. Each time a Plant-type monster is summoned, one Plant Counter is placed on this card. Next I Normal Summon Naturu Pumpkin in Attack mode." A green pumpkin sleepily lifted itself onto its small feet in front of her.

**Naturu Pumpkin (Level 4)  
Plant Type  
ATK: 1400 DEF: 800**

"Seed Shot's effect activates: one Plant Counter is placed on this card. Also, Naturu Pumpkin's monster effect: when this card is Normal Summoned, if my opponent controls a monster, I can Special Summon one Naturu monster from my hand. Come forth, Naturu Marron!" A tiny orange furry ball with large eyes floated beside the pumpkin.

**Naturu Marron (Level 3)  
Plant Type  
ATK: 1200 DEF: 700**

"Seed Shot gains another Plant Counter when a Plant-type monster is summoned. Battle: Naturu Pumpkin attacks Hell Soldier! Pumpkin Tumble!" The large vegetable rolled itself towards Manjōme's monster and took away two hundred Life Points.

"Still, at this moment, Hell Soldier's special effect is activated! It will deal all Battle Damage received by the player straight to the opponent as well!" Nao's Life Points also lowered to thirty-eight hundred from the effect.

"The Battle Phase still hasn't ended. Naturu Marron attacks the player directly! Orange Bristle!" Her monster puffed its body and projected needles towards him, sending him off his feet and landing on his back. Twelve hundred points were also deducted and twenty six hundred remained.

"I end my turn," she finished.

"My turn," he growled dangerously, "Now, I activate the Trap Card, Call of the Living Dead. With this card, I can Special Summon a monster from the Cemetery. The one I choose is this! Be reborn, Hell Soldier!" He flipped open his trap card, but Nao asked herself why he didn't use it during her last turn.

"Next, I activate the Magic Card, Hell Reckless Summoning which Special Summons monsters identical to a monster on our fields from our decks, hands and Cemeteries, all in Attack mode!"

Manjōme summoned two more Hell Soldiers to his field, while Nao was forced to look through her deck to bring another Naturu Marron.

"No matter how many Hell Soldiers he gets together, their attack power is 1200 each. He could be trying to settle the battle with Naturu Marron," Asuka said.

"Not only that, Nao's Seed Shot Permanent Magic adds another Plant Counter on it. Manjōme must have some sort of plan in store," Ryō guessed but he overheard him.

"Precisely, Kaiser. And it is I who will succeed you in Obelisk Blue! I activate the Equip Magic, Hell Alliance! This increases the attack points of the equipped monster by 800 points for each monster with the same name as it. The attack power of my equipped Hell Soldier is..." he said.

"3600," Nao cursed.

"Go! Hell Soldier!" He commanded and sliced her Marron in half. She grunted and winced at the loud impact of his attack.

"Nao!" Judai called out to her.

"This isn't good," Shō whimpered. "Now, Fukugawa's Life is down to 1400. Things have flipped around now!"

"It's nothing. Draw, I activate the Magic Card Pot of Greed. This allows me to draw two more cards from my deck. Next, I summon Naturu Stinkbug in defense mode."

**Naturu Stinkbug (Level 3)  
Insect Type  
ATK: 200 DEF: 500**

"Battle, Naturu Pumpkin attacks Hell Soldier! Pumpkin Tumble!" It rolled towards the first unequipped soldier and destroyed it.

"However, when Hell Soldier's destroyed, all the damage I take will be forced onto you, too!" He said as both players lost two hundred points. Manjōme stood at twenty-four hundred Life Points, while Nao at twelve thousand.

"Naturu Marron attacks another Hell Soldier! Orange Bristle!" The needles and the sword attacked at the same time, sending them to their respective cemeteries.

"She can try all she wants, but it's her own Life Points that are getting reduced!" Shō began to worry.

"No, it's just fine," Judai said.

"Judai's right. The attack power of the Hell Soldier with the Equip Magic is 3600. It can't be defeated unless you summon a considerable powerful monster, but look," Ryō explained to his brother as the last remaining Hell Soldier's strength was now at two thousand.

"I get it now! With less Hell Soldiers, its attack power has gone down!" Shō grinned.

"Yeah, Nao made his chance to turn the tables with the monsters on the field by reducing some of his own Life," Judai added.

"She has more monsters than he does now. If she can stave off his next attack, Fukugawa will still have a chance," Misawa optimistically observed.

"I set one card to end my turn."

"My turn! Fukugawa, your petty tricks won't work on me anymore! I sacrifice Hell Soldier and my entire hand to summon Blazing Demon - Hell Burner! Come forth, Hell Burner!"

**Blazing Demon - Hell Burner (Level 6)  
Fiend Type  
ATK: 2800 DEF: 1800**

Manjōme cackled at her, feeling the advantage he gained with pure power. His side of the field exploded with fire and illuminated the arena. Nao covered her eyes at the brightness until a large monster that resembled an insect growled at her.

"What now, Fukugawa? My Hell Burner is a high-level monster. And what's more, for every one of my opponent's monsters, its attack points go up by 200! There are two monsters on your field, and so, Hell Burner's attack points go up by 400!"

"An attack power of 3200? No matter what monster she shields herself with, Nao's Life Points will go down to 0!" Judai said.

"Go! Be burned by my flames of malice, and be gone from this academy, Fukugawa!" Hell Burner breathed out hungry flames towards her pumpkin, which was on the verge of getting burnt from the heat.

"Naturu Stinkbug's effect activates! When a Naturu monster I control is selected as an attack target, I send this card to the Cemetery to negate the attack and end the battle phase!" She moved the card and the flames were extinguished before she would have lost the duel.

"From my hand, Naturu Hydrangea's effect activates. If the effect of a Naturu monster I control was activated, this card can be Special Summoned. Appear, Naturu Hydrangea." A trio of blue and purple flowers bloomed onto her field. Since it was a plant-type, another Plant Counter was added to Seed Shot.

**Naturu Hydrangea (Level 5)  
Plant Type  
ATK: 1900 DEF: 2000**

"Damn your persistent tricks! However, your end will no doubt come on my next turn. Now, you understand? This is the power Obelisk Blues must have in order to be considered one! Low-leveled monsters are for the weak and only those with strength can dominate! Your entry exam was nothing but a joke! It was a part of your family's bargain to let a fraud like you attend here!"

"Nao! Don't listen to him! You hear me?" Judai hollered to her.

"It's probably true," she admitted. The small group of spectators were stunned before she explained herself further.

"Maybe I am a high-class fraud, or my family may have fabricated everything for me. All I was told by my father that I was going to take an entry exam here. In a period of two months, I studied every day after school about duel monsters cards by myself and placed fifth in the written exam. I was happy that I had only one more step to go," she reminisced out loud with a combination of fondness and guilt.

"In a way, I am considered lucky, because if I were not a girl, I may have been placed in Ra Yellow. If I did have a choice to come here and enjoy dueling, I wouldn't have cared whether I was in Osiris Red or Ra Yellow because this was an opportunity I was unable to refuse. I am grateful, but I had to prepare myself for rumors that may have reached people.

"However, I truly understand why powerful monsters are in demand. I must remind you, Manjōme, that you wanted to eliminate me with flames of malice. I wonder if you can after my turn."

"What did you say?" he threatened.

"Draw." Nao looked at her new card she drew from her deck and her eyes brightened.

"I activate the Ritual Magic, Nature Monarchy Ritual! By sending monsters from my hand or fiend whose total Levels equal to the Level or higher than the Ritual Monster, I can Ritual Summon it. I tribute Level 5 Naturu Hydrangea and Level 4 Naturu Pumpkin to Ritual Summon the King of Mother Nature: Naturu Gaodrake!"

A gate appeared behind her that was made by trees and opened to reveal a large scaly lion with numerous flower petals for its mane. It elicited a loud roar to magnify its pride.

**Naturu Gaodrake (Level 9)  
Beast Type  
ATK: 3000 DEF: 1800**

"A Level 9 Ritual Monster with 3000 attack points?" Manjōme exclaimed.

"That is not all. I activate Seed Shot's effect. By sending it to the Cemetery from my field, it will inflict 500 points of damage for each Plant Counter placed on this card."

His eyes widened when he realized that there were four counters and the plant fired a blast that stripped him of two thousand Life Points down to four hundred.

"Next, I Normal Summon Naturu Pineapple in Attack Mode." A small fruit with large eyes popped onto the field from its card.

**Naturu Pineapple (Level 2)  
Plant Type  
ATK: 100 DEF: 100**

"Battle! Naturu Gaodrake attacks Blazing Demon - Hell Burner!"

"What good will that do? Hell Burner has higher attack points!"

"I activate the Quick-Play Magic Flooding of the Mad Plant! All Plant-type monsters I control gain 300 attack points for each Plant-type monster in my Cemetery until the End Phase."

"That's impossible! Naturu Gaodrake isn't a Plant-type monster!"

"Naturu Pineapple's monster effect treats all monsters I control as Plant-type monsters. In my Cemetery, there are four Plant-type monsters. Now, Naturu Gaodrake's attack power is 4200! Bellow out: Lion Pride Roar!" She commanded her monster which cried out in such a loud volume that shattered Manjōme's monster, the controller screamed in impact. He fell on his knees, unable to comprehend what happened seconds ago.

"Manjōme, as a duelist, you tried to burn me with your hatred, but I have proven that low-level monsters are as important as high-level monsters," she said.

"Shut up! You just happened to have luck on your side."

"It may have been luck," she admitted, "But throughout the entire duel, I had been hoping to use the card you were about to take away from me yesterday. When this card was drawn during that last turn, I realized that Naturu Barkion wasn't the answer. You said that power could only be found in high-level monsters. On the other hand, Naturu Gaodrake would have been useless without Naturu Pineapple. That is why I partially agree and disagree." She gazed at her two cards that earned her victory one last time before raising her voice.

"Manjōme, those who can't treasure each of their cards lack what it takes to be a duelist." He slumped over and the group behind the arena came up to her.

"Everyone," she softened.

"You've done it," Judai grinned. "That Naturu Gaodrake was the best!" She thanked him wearily, tired from the fierce duel.

"Fukugawa, you've proven yourself fearless," Misawa complimented.

"I don't think I am fearless, Misawa," she modestly replied.

"Nao, you stood up for yourself. I'm proud of you for that," Asuka said. Nao wasn't used to be showered with praise but just this once, she kindly and humbly accepted them. Ryō gave a smile before he left without a word, but she strangely didn't mind at all. Her hand subconsciously went into her pocket to clench onto the handkerchief she kept. It may have became her good luck charm after all.


	8. Wonders of the Monkey

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Wonders of the Monkey**

Nao's thoughts kept wondering back to her duel with Manjōme the previous day. She asked whether it was worth her dignity as a duelist; as an Obelisk Blue student. She didn't have the heart to pay a visit to the lighthouse that night. Ryō may have already known her dilemma, so it wouldn't be much help seeking advice from him just yet.

She was forcibly yanked back into reality when Shō burst into the classroom calling for Judai, who asked him what was the hurry. The small Osiris Red caught his breath and informed him, "Bad news! I heard Manjōme's gone missing!" Alarmed, Nao searched his seat below her and found it empty. Nao and Asuka looked at each other with concern and overheard some fellow Obelisks talking.

"They say he rushed to get his things this morning and ran away."

"And all because he lost to Fukugawa, I'm betting," said another.

"What a loser."

"How disappointing."

"It feels like a losing dog's left!"

This wasn't the attention Nao wanted to grab as the duelist who defeated the seemingly Great Manjōme. They snickered amongst themselves and she gritted her teeth with a sick feeling swirling in her stomach.

"What's wrong with them? Until yesterday, they followed Manjōme like droppings on a goldfish," Judai grumbled disapprovingly.

"Hey Big Bro, you don't think he's completely hiding from everyone just because he lost that duel, do you?" Shō asked.

"That twit!" He shot up from his seat. "There's no way that's the case, is there? That can't be it..."

Nao's group exchanged knowing glances and snuck off when Judai and Shō dashed out of the classroom a few moments ago. They somehow agreed that Manjōme was more important that class and also felt more rebellious today. They exited the school and rounded a corner to find the duo crawling out of the hole.

"I wonder where you're planning to go by cutting class," Asuka pondered out loud. They walked towards them and answered her.

"We're going to go look for Manjōme. I just can't sit around, right? Listen, don't tell the Professor."

All right, but there's one condition," she agreed.

"Condition?" he quoted.

"We're going with you," Nao joined in.

"What? Why? You're the reason why he's gone," he raised an eyebrow.

"You said it yourself, didn't you? We can't just sit around," she avoided his justification with a mysterious smile.

They ventured into the woods and hollered out to him at the same time. Nao switched back and forth from both sides in sincere hopes to spot a flash of black hair. They stopped when Asuka finally uttered something throughout the search.

"Honesty," she muttered. She held her hands on each side of her lips and yelled at the top of her voice, "Get out here! I can't believe you'd hide over losing a duel! That's just pitiful!" As a result, a flock of birds flew out of the ocean of trees and into the sky from the noise.

"You're as forceful as ever," Judai drawled.

"But that's natural. Really, he's just a weak boy," Junko scoffed.

"Still, I'm sure Manjōme's different!" Momoe swooned. "I mean, he's such a cool guy!"

"I thought you said Misawa was dreamy the other day? You're fine with anyone that's good-looking." Junko corrected her.

Judai suddenly shifted over to Nao, who was holding an intense gaze ahead of her.

"What's wrong?"

"Over there! Something moved just now!" she pointed. The group followed her eyes and spotted the bush ruffling.

"It's Manjōme," Shō mumbled.

"Hey, is that you, Manjōme?" Judai called out to it. "It's me, Yuki Judai! Don't put up a front, just come out!" They got closer and closer to draw him out. "Hey!"

Suddenly, something bursted out of the bush and the group screamed at the abrupt fright. It was a monkey with technological equipment attached to him along with a Duel Disk on its left arm. It ran into the group and started a brawl until it carried off one person away.

"W-What was that?" Asuka stammered. Judai was still frozen after what he just witnessed.

"I think it was a monkey," Shō spoke up. There was also a trio of men shuffling in the forest and Judai yelped.

"What is it?" Asuka wondered.

"Did it escape?" a short old man with a long beard and glasses asked his two accomplices. One was tall and burly while another was wearing sunglasses and holding a special rifle. Both were wearing business suits and name tags. A scream from another part of the woods rang through their ears. The girls looked among themselves and found that Nao was missing and she was the one who screamed.

"Nao?" Junko muttered.

"Help me!" she yelled out.

"When did she get that far?" Momoe was puzzled.

"Since that monkey carried her off just a little while ago," Asuka said.

"It's over there!" reported the man with the rifle.

"Let's go and catch it," ordered the old man.

"H-Hey, h-hold on! What is all this? Shō stuttered to them.

"I don't really know, but any rate, we have to save Nao," Judai proposed to the group. They followed the suspicious men, thinking that it would lead them to their captured friend.

Meanwhile, having to have never experienced so much thrill in her fragile life, she continuously shrieked at each drop and jump the monkey did while carrying her. She consistently demanded it to let her go until they arrived at a demented tree that loomed over the cliff and above the ocean. Feeling as if she was about to have a heart attack, she clutched onto the monkey in fear.

"Don't let me go!" She whimpered.

The pursuers and the group finally caught up with the creature.

"It won't escape now!" said the man with the rifle, aiming at the monkey. "If you don't want to be shot by the tranquilizer, come back to us quietly!" The primal animal held Nao down as she cried out, "Help me!"

"I can't believe it took a hostage so brazenly like that," cursed the burly man.

"Better yet, just who are you guys?" Judai shot out to them. Shō spotted something that looked peculiar on the monkey.

"Big Bro, that monkey's wearing a Duel Disk!"

The old man turned behind and explained to them, "That isn't just a mere monkey. This is the dueling monkey that we've been putting a lot of effort into training. Its name stands for "Super Animal Learning," or SAL for short."

"Looks weak," Shō degraded.

"Doctor!" the burly man chided.

"Seems it was a slip of the tongue," he brushed away.

"A dueling monkey? How could you strip away the rights of a free animal for your mere experiments!" Nao raged while struggling not to fall.

"Wait a second!" Judai interrupted. "Leave it to me."

"To you? And what, pray tell, are you saying you can do?" The doctor wasn't convinced.

"I'll decide things with a duel, of course," he said as if it was an easy question.

"Are you saying you're going to duel that monkey?" Asuka rephrased.

"If you duel someone, your hearts would link up," he said. "Even if it's a monkey." He ran forward until there was a safe distance between him and the creature.

"Hey, SAL! If you're a duelist, too, what do you say to settling things with a duel? If I win, you'll release that hostage!" he declared.

Nao felt a little insulted for a second but it disappeared when he didn't set the other condition. "Judai! If you lose then what happens?"

"If I lose? Oh, that's right... I didn't think of that," he scratched his head. "Okay, if I lose, you'll do what you want, SAL!"

"You idiot! What's the point in that?" she balked.

"Don't sweat it, Nao! I'm going to win, without a doubt!" SAL astoundingly nodded and set her down on the tree. It hobbled nearer to Judai and hopped onto a boulder dug into the ground. It switched on the duel disk and Judai repeated a second later.

"Now, we're talking! Let's go. Duel!"

"Duel!" a new voice spoke after him. Nao perked in fright when it was speaking. The doctor explained that it was programed to speak dueling terminology.

Judai summoned his Elemental Hero Sparkman in his first turn, but SAL defeated it with Berserk Gorilla. After losing some Life Points, he Fusion Summoned Flame Wingman to deal both battle damage and effect damage. After his second turn ended, SAL looked as if he was already worn out, but he was deceived.

SAL summoned Acrobat Monkey and activated his reverse card, DNA Surgery to change all face-up monsters into a designated type he chose, which was Beast Type. He then activated Wild Nature's Release to raise its attack power to twenty eight hundred for this turn before it was destroyed at the end phase. Flame Wingman was sent to the Cemetery by battle but both fields were empty.

Before Judai drew his next card, he heard a party of wild monkeys watching the duel.

"There's a lot of monkeys!" Shō observed. Momoe and Junko held each other in fear of being attacked. Judai then thought things over and asked SAL.

"You escaped from the research lab because you wanted to go back to your friends, didn't you?"

"So, it wanted to go back to its friends?" Junko whimpered in sympathy.

"But if Big Bro wins, it'll go back to the research lab," Shō said, "I can't help but feel sorry for it."

"I know, but we can't just leave Nao there," Asuka countered, also feeling sad for SAL.

"If we let this monkey go back to its friends, we can't save Fukugawa. If we save her, that monkey can't go back to its friends. Man, just what should we do?" He held his head in frustration.

Nao, being the victim of the situation, realized that she wasn't the only one. If her father knew about these experiments, he would not be pleased.

"I'm sorry, SAL, but a duel is always a serious game. Once a duel's started, we can't hold back no matter what the reason." He summoned Clayman in attack mode, and was turned into a beast type. He didn't pay heed to the trap card and activated a magic card from his hand. He was able to attack directly and from the magic card, he also dealt damage equal to the defense power of Clayman, which was two thousand. SAL had nineteen hundred Life Points, so then Judai earned his victory.

"Well, we promised! Time to release Nao!" he reminded the monkey, who carried her off the tree and gently set her on safe grounds. Without forgetting to thank it, she ran to Asuka, Junko and Momoe, still feeling shaken from the thrilling ride SAL unwillingly gave her earlier.

"Thank you for saving me, Judai. But," she paused when she glanced at SAL, "That monkey's going back to the research lab, isn't it?"

The group heard footsteps on the grass that belonged to the three scientists saying, "Well done. Leave the rest to us!"

Judai suddenly moved in front of SAL and outstretched his arms to each side, protecting it. "Hey, hold it! Don't get the wrong idea! I said it'd release the hostage if I won the duel, but I didn't say it'd go back to the research lab!" He looked back with a knowing smile. "That monkey's going to be back in the forest with its friends."

SAL was stunned in gratitude.

"Yo! That's Big Bro, all right! That's the way!" Shō cheered on.

"That's an ending you'd come up with," Asuka complimented.

"He's got a good point, surprisingly," Momoe agreed.

The men in the business suits ignored his protests and shoved him aside. "He's in the way. Move it!" They threw a net on top of SAL and restrained it. The doctor calmly walked passed Judai and proposed something to him.

"If you want it back with its friends so much, we could do that. However, they will be in my research lab! Catch all the other monkeys!" He commanded. Hearing the insanity from his order, Nao mimicked Judai's actions and outstretched her arms to the side to protect the quivering monkeys from the scientists.

"How dare you use free animals to your selfish needs! This isn't research; it's abuse!"

"Whether or not it is either, we are short on animals to experiment on, after all."

Before the man in sunglasses fired the tranquilizer at Nao and the monkeys, a cat leapt out of the woods and scratched him on his face to stop the assault. A figure also emerged from the woods and the cat went back to him.

"Great work, Pharaoh. You're my pet, after all," Professor Daitokuji cooed as he picked him up in his arms. The group greeted him, despite the unexpected encounter.

"Who are you?" the doctor growled.

"If this goes public, you would be the embarrassed ones, wouldn't you?" he used his foot to retrieve the fallen rifle to his free hand. "You'll be charged with animal cruelty, you know, and we have plenty of powerful witnesses to prove it." The research trio reluctantly surrendered their pursuit and retreated back into the depths of the forest after removing all the technological gear from SAL.

The free monkey, still equipped with the duel disk, happily went back to its pack before waving goodbye to Judai, supposedly taking up on the latter's offer to duel again sometime. Nao sighed in relief seeing that the incident is all cleared. She did make a mental note to mention this to her father at the dinner table when she returns home for winter.

"At any rate, I wonder what would've happened to us if Professor Daitokuji didn't show up right then," Momoe wondered out loud.

"Thank you very much," Asuka said, gratefully.

"No, I didn't do anything," he appreciated, "Please say that to Pharaoh instead of me."

"Still, why did you come here, Professor?" Judai asked.

"Oh, that's right. I found Manjōme." At the good news, the group expressed their relief with good-hearted grins but they fell when the professor followed it with the fact that he was no longer on the island. They followed him to the pier to find that a boat was sailing away from them, assuming that Manjōme was boarding it.

"To tell you the truth, I noticed it earlier, too. And so, I went to find Manjōme," he explained.

"So that's it," Judai muttered.

"Manjōme left the island..." Shō mumbled in dismay.

Judai turned to the girls and assured them, "Don't worry! I know he'll come back! I know Manjōme's looking at this same sky, too!" Everyone except for Nao shared his optimism, because she still felt very guilty for not doing anything to change his mind.

After classes (and a long lecture for skipping class from Professor Chronos), Nao went to the lighthouse, hoping for the Kaiser to share her company. Asuka was able to read her mind like an open book during dinner, but she didn't want to pry. Nao was very pleased when she won her duel against Manjōme, but she didn't expect him to take the stakes so seriously. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear the quiet footsteps that got closer and louder towards her.

"From your sullen expression, you must have heard about Manjōme today," he said.

"Should I have done something to stop him from leaving?"

"You already did, but he was blinded by his obsession with powerful cards to see it." Ryō caught her actions during the duel but he didn't want to say anything about it to the others.

"I don't understand, Ryō," she lied.

"When you had the Permanent Magic Seed Shot on your field with four Plant Tokens, you had Naturu Pineapple in your hand, which is a Plant-type monster. If you summoned it before you sent Seed Shot to the Cemetery, you would have won earlier without having to Ritual Summon Naturu Gaodrake instead," he analyzed. He turned his head towards her, who took out the same card from her pocket. It was back in the white card sleeve.

"I reconstructed my deck to specifically summon this card, which was given by my father before I came here. I resolved to only use this when I need it the most, but yes, I may not have needed to summon it yesterday. Now I look back to my actions with regret. I could have proven my belief with Naturu Pineapple instead of indirectly agreeing with him with Naturu Gaodrake. I couldn't think for a moment to weigh which was more important to me."

"Both options weren't wrong. The outcome would have been the same."

"I never wanted to hurt his pride because it was already broken."

"But you played an example of respecting your opponent. It was evident during your last turn. It may have been better that way."

Nao benignly smiled at his kindness. Before she could forget, she reached into her pocket for the handkerchief.

"You should keep it." She froze in her actions when he spoke so suddenly, as if he read her mind.

"Is it all right?"

"Just in case you need it when you want to be alone. I may not be there for you all the time." Nao felt blood rushing to her cheeks and she avoided eye contact with him.

"That is true. I am growing up after all."


	9. Brief and Sweet

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Brief and Sweet**

Nao was zipping up her backpack when she heard an email alert on her computer. She had been receiving messages from her father nearly every day about what was happening back at home and at the company. She loved to get involved in his work because she found his occupation very fascinating. She opened the new mail and read that he and her mother would pick her up at the Domino harbor back to their home town promptly at six. He also wrote that it was expected to snow tomorrow, making her excited.

Nao heard a knock on her door along with Asuka's voice gently penetrating through.

"Nao, are you ready?"

"Yes," she replied while shutting off her computer and set an alarm on her watch. She grabbed a strap of her backpack and slipped them over her shoulders. She exited her room, locked it and made her way towards the ferry with Asuka accompanying her. Junko and Momoe were with a group of other boy-crazy girls, and the other two didn't want to get caught up in the middle.

As the large boat sailed across the ocean towards Domino City, Asuka and Nao continuously conversed while enjoying the view. The former noticed that Judai and his friends weren't on the boat, assuming that they would remain at Duel Academia.

They parted at the harbor where Nao slipped through the crowd of students to find her family's car parked by the entrance. One of the windows rolled down to reveal her parents in their business attire.

"Nao," she greeted her daughter, who demurely smiled. The chauffeur came out of the driver seat and opened the back seat door for the young mistress to enter through and sit beside her mother. She thanked him and the car drove off into the streets towards their home city.

"How was your first term?" she asked.

"It was good," Nao replied, recalling the past events with Judai, Asuka and Ryō. She remembered experiencing a life in school she wouldn't run into at an ordinary school. She left out moments when she still felt like she didn't belong. The emotion was slowly fading as time went by, but even one whisper about her would still sting.

"That's a relief."

"Your mother's right. You rarely smiled so fondly about your old schools until now. It looks like we've made the right choice," her father said.

"I think so, too."

"Have you made some friends there? Although, I am sure you must have because you all have something in common."

"I suppose," Nao mused, because she considered Asuka more like a sister and Ryō like an older brother. She was only acquainted with Judai, Hayato and Shō. Manjōme was now out of the picture in terms of bullying.

"You must be hungry, Nao. Dinner is scheduled to be on the table as soon as we arrive home," her mother chided with a grin, which Nao returned. Being with her parents after the first term felt very good, especially when she could return home and catch up with her comfort zone.

Nao and her parents caught up with each other over dinner with what was happening in the distribution company and her memories at school. Her father mentioned something that caught her full attention.

"Yesterday, the Manjōme Group had contacted the company to hold a private meeting."

"Manjōme Group?" Nao repeated.

"Yes. I do have a feeling what they are trying to accomplish. They are top class in the financial and political world, so I do not understand why they are still so ambitious."

"It might have something to do with Manjōme at school," she mumbled to herself. "Father, does one of the members include Manjōme Jun?"

"From what I have researched, he is the youngest out of the three brothers that lead the group. Why do you ask?" Nao's heart was about to leap out of her chest, thinking that her father would assume she was hiding something.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just heard that name from somewhere," she avoid, her father thankfully dismissed. Throughout the rest of dinner, the minor dilemma at the company had stayed in her mind. She started to wonder where Manjōme could have gone, hoping that he wouldn't report anything about the Fukugawa Family's underaged daughter at the elite Duel Academia.

The next day was the day before Christmas Eve, though Nao wasn't planning on Christmas shopping. She had a party to attend to with her parents on the day of, and thus leaving her with down time little to be desired. When her parents left for work, she ate the breakfast the cooks prepared for her and asked for her chauffeur to drive her to the coffee shop she became fond of before she went to Duel Academia. She took her deck, notebook and wallet into her knapsack for her time there.

While sipping on her hot chocolate at a table by the window, she thought to herself that despite having friends at the academy, she had forgotten that she didn't have any here in her home city. She doodled in her notebook for a while before she took out her deck and laid them out on the table, including her side deck. There were a few cards that weren't included in the main deck that she gazed upon for a long time before moving on to the next. Before leaving for Duel Academia, she had decided not to use specific cards until it was absolutely necessary. Just the Naturia archetype was good enough for her to manage and tinker with.

"A young and important girl like you shouldn't be in a public place by herself," a strangely familiar voice bellowed beside her, placing his coffee by the opposite seat. Ryō sat down after he draped his coat on the chair, without giving Nao the chance to react. She hurriedly collected her main and side deck together from the unexpected visit.

"I'm not by myself," she said and pointed outside where her driver parked the car right where he could supervise her, knowing that the young mistress would like her privacy. Ryō followed her finger and nodded.

"I see. Very clever."

"What is so clever about that?"

"You treasure your privacy too much."

"Will it become a bad habit?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps," he shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. "Though, I didn't expect to run into you here. I admit this is the first time knowing you live in this city."

"Likewise."

"I assume you have been bored at home without your parents to keep you company."

"I have some of the maids and personal assistances, but I suppose they are not the same as friends," she admitted.

"It must be lonely."

"I think I got used to it."

They stayed quiet while taking occasional sips from their hot drinks to keep away the chill when the doors opened and closed. Nao just thought of a proposition but became too nervous and shy to ask him. She had an inner conflict with herself until she swallowed her anxiety and mustered the courage.

"Ryō," she started off, "Will you duel me? Right now?"

"Right now?" he repeated.

"It's fine on the table. I do admit: it does get lonely when you don't have many close friends from the same city as us," her eyes averted to the window, her heart still pounding in her chest while awaiting his response.

"Very well," he answered, Nao's eyes lighting up. She didn't expect him to accept her challenge, but she felt very happy nonetheless. The two students took out their decks and placed them on the table to begin their impromptu duel.

"Duel," they declared with their life points starting at four thousand and five cards in their hands.

"You can go first," she offered, which he accepted.

"I won't go easy, Nao. Be prepared," he warned and she nodded firmly. "My turn," he drew his card. "I'll summon Cyber Phoenix in attack-mode." He placed the card in the middle monster card zone, which had twelve hundred attack points and sixteen hundred defense points.

**Cyber Phoenix (Level 4)  
Machine Type  
ATK: 1200 DEF: 1600**

"Then I activate the Magic Card, Time Capsule. I select one card from my deck and remove it from play until my second Standby Phase after activation." Ryō searched his deck and pulled out one card and placed it face-down beside his deck zone. He shuffled briefly and replaced it back where it was. "Turn end."

Nao glanced at the card he removed and had two guesses in mind: Power Bond or Fusion. Like Judai and Shō, they were the key cards of his deck. Despite her deck that didn't have any Fusion Monsters, she was aware of the requirements and weaknesses they had.

"Draw," she drew her sixth card. "I'll summon Naturu Cliff in attack mode."

**Naturu Cliff (Level 4)  
Rock Type  
ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000**

"Battle: Naturu Cliff attacks Cyber Phoenix," she pointed from her card to his to send Cyber Phoenix to the cemetery and deal three hundred life points.

"Cyber Phoenix's ability when destroyed by battle allows me to draw one card from my deck."

She placed a card face down right below her monster to end her turn. Though she started off easy, her hands got clammy and her legs shook beneath the table.

"My turn," he drew his next card and glanced at his hand for a moment. "I Special Summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode. Cyber Dragon could be Special Summoned when my field has no monsters while the opponent does." He placed his monster parallel to Naturu Cliff. "Then I activate the Magic Card Resurrection of the Dead to revive Cyber Phoenix from the Cemetery."

Now there were two monsters against one in his favor. Nao noiselessly swallowed and waited for his attack.

"Battle: Cyber Dragon attacks Naturu Cliff," he pointed from his monster to Nao's, which dealt six hundred points of damage. She cut in to explain her monster's ability, "Naturu Cliff's monster effect activates - when it is sent from the field to the Cemetery, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower "Naturu" monster from my deck to the field." She looked through her cards and selected Naturu Flightfly in defense mode to keep away from Cyber Phoenix.

**Naturu Flightfly (Level 3)  
Insect-Type  
ATK: 800 DEF: 1500**

"I'll place one card face-down and end my turn. Remember, Time Capsule's effect will expire in my next turn," he reminded, which she nodded in understanding.

"Draw. I'll activate Permanent Magic Spiritual Forest." Nao placed the magic card on the table. "Each turn, the first face-up Beast, Beast-Warrior or Plant-Type monster I control that would be destroyed by battle will not be destroyed. Next, I summon Naturu Strawberry in attack mode."

**Naturu Strawberry (Level 4)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200**

"Then I'll activate the Ritual Magic: High-Class Ritual Art from my hand. To Ritual Summon a monster from my hand, I can send Normal Monsters from my Deck to the Cemetery whose total Levels are equal to that Ritual Monster's. I'll send Empress Mantis from my Deck to Ritual Summon Naturu Barkion."

The blue-coded card was placed beside Naturu Flightfly. Now with three monsters on her field as opposed to the sloppy swarming during her last turn, Nao felt a little more secure and safe in terms of what could happen when Time Capsule's effect would end.

**Naturu Barkion (Level 6)  
Dragon-Type  
ATK: 2500 DEF: 1700**

"Naturu Flightfly's ability activates: All face-up monsters my opponent controls lose 300 attack and defense points for each face-up Naturu monster I control. On my field, there are three, therefore Cyber Dragon and Cyber Phoenix loses 900 attack and defense points each. Battle: Naturu Barkion attacks Cyber Phoenix." Twenty-five hundred subtracted by a mere three hundred resulted into nineteen hundred points of damage, reducing Ryō's Life Points to twelve hundred. He drew one more card from his deck because of its ability after Cyber Phoenix was destroyed.

"Then Naturu Strawberry attacks the weakened Cyber Dragon," she commanded which cut his points again down to eight hundred. If one could compare Nao's Life Points to Ryō's, the former would be more likely to win.

"I'll end my turn," she stuttered slightly at her process.

"My turn," Ryō drew his next card and said, "Time Capsule's effect has now ended and the card I removed from play is now added to my hand." Nao's heartbeat hammered in her chest at the combo he was about to unleash. She would have known that he may not be going so easy after all.

"First, I'll activate the magic card, Fusion. It will fuse my two Cyber Dragons in my hand to Fusion Summon Cyber Twin Dragon." He took out the two Machine Type monsters from his hand to the Cemetery along with the Fusion Magic Card and brought out the violet coloured card from the extra deck. Nao took note that it was the second time seeing the fusion monster.

**Cyber Twin Dragon  
Machine-Type  
ATK: 2800 DEF: 2100**

"Then from my hand, I'll activate the magic card, Power Bond." Nao felt like her mind would give out on her from the second and most anticipated monster in his deck she would have to battle against, with the effect of Power Bond to add to the fire. "By sending the Fusion Material Monsters listed to the Cemetery, I can Special Summon one Machine Type Fusion Monster from the extra deck onto the field. However, I activate Cybernetic Fusion Support. By paying half my Life Points, this card can substitute for the Fusion Materials I need to send to the Cemetery. By using the three Cyber Dragons as needed, I Special Summon Cyber End Dragon." He explained as he brought his most powerful monster in his deck, taking her breath away.

"Because of Power Bond's effect, Cyber End Dragon's attack power will be doubled by its original attack points."

**Cyber End Dragon  
Machine-Type  
ATK: 4000 DEF: 2800**

From Power Bond, four thousand turned into eight thousand. "Naturu Strawberry's monster effect activates. When my opponent summons a monster on their side of the field, this card gains 100 attack points multiplied by the Level of that monster until the End Phase. Cyber End Dragon is a Level 10 monster, therefore Naturu Strawberry gains one thousand attack points."

"You do understand that it may not be much use to you, right?"

Nao didn't answer, but let him continue his turn. "Battle: Cyber End Dragon attacks Naturu Strawberry."

"Trap Card activate: Thorn Wall. When a Plant-Type monster is selected as an Attack Target, all Attack Position monsters on my opponent's side of the field is destroyed."

"Just as I thought. You've become predictable. I activate Quick-Play Magic, Fusion Cancellation. This separates Cyber End Dragon to the three Cyber Dragons from the Cemetery. Therefore, your trap card's effect has been cancelled." Nao heaved a sigh but he got her attention again before she could catch a break.

"But I am not quite finished yet. Cyber Twin Dragon attacks Naturu Flightfly." Though thankfully his monster didn't deal piercing damage, the effect was now disabled after it was sent to her Cemetery. Not to mention that Cyber Twin Dragon could attack twice.

"Next, Cyber Twin Dragon attacks Naturu Barkion." Her Life Points were lowered by three hundred, which she nearly hit the three thousand mark. She still had an overwhelming advantage, but something told her that she may not win after all.

"Turn End," he finished. Ryō looked from the corner of his eye that her right hand was quivering on top of her deck, trying to draw a card. His expression softened and chastely grasped her shaking hand with his own. Her head shot up to face him with wide eyes.

"It's alright. I won't judge you," he soothed her and subtly caressed her hand with his thumb. "You were doing well." They locked eye contact for what seemed like a pleasant eternity until she gathered all her courage to answer him back with a weak squeeze.

"Okay. I'll draw," she stopped mid-way when she saw the card she just drew. But before she could analyze what she could do or wonder how that card got into her deck, the alarm on her watch bleeped. She spotted her driver signaling her to return home from the window and sighed in dismay.

"What is it?" Ryō asked. She shook her head out of her trance and gave him an apologetic look.

"I am sorry, but it seems that I have to leave right away. I suppose my free time is limited." She gazed her her drawn card once more and replaced it on the top of her deck along with the cards she played. She put on her coat and knapsack, bidding him goodbye and an early Merry Christmas before darting out of the café without her unfinished hot chocolate. Ryō watched her go inside the car and the driver rode off into the snowy streets. His thoughts trailed to the look on her face when she drew her most recent card, asking himself why she looked as if she was too afraid to use it.

Ryō enclosed his hand, that just held hers, around her forgotten drink and realized that it was still warm. He took a small sip and smiled to himself. The sweet but brief taste was somehow and strangely refreshing like the young prodigy. She was a treat that can only linger for a short amount of time.


	10. Under the Weather

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Under the Weather**

It was the same reoccurring dream Nao dreamt for the past month after winter vacation. With each passing night, her surroundings became clearer and clearer. She still felt the wet and slimy ground she lay upon, and the rain showered on her heavily. However, the most recent replay had taken a different turn. When the red shadow appeared as it always did, Nao was able to turn her head towards it until it blinded her for a moment.

In a blink of an eye, she wasn't laying on the wet and muddy ground, but rather a soft and fragrant blanket of flowers in a sunny meadow. There was an assortment of some sort of spirits crowding around her in curiosity. They looked familiar somehow but everything turned blurry and nauseating when she finally woke up in bed. Her room swayed slightly from side to side, her head feeling feverish.

Nao nearly stumbled out of bed and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were drooping slightly and her face was very pale. She felt her head with her hand and realized that she was burning up. Though she was aware of her condition, she was also very naïve thinking that she could survive the day regardless. She changed into her academy uniform and groomed herself ready for class. For some reason, she felt like she wasn't the only one in her room, as if something or someone was watching her. Feeling paranoid, she drew the curtain away from her window and peered outside. With no success, she sighed and trudged out of her room. She usually had no appetite when she was sick, so she went straight to the main building with everything she needed.

Asuka narrowed her eyes at the seemingly weak Nao beside her, who looked as if she would dry up and blow away in the wind. Her pencil wasn't writing steadily and her breathing was dry and somewhat raspy. Concerned, she put a gentle warm hand on her shoulder, which she looked at her in return.

"You don't look very well. Maybe you should rest in the infirmary." Nao wearily shook her head and smiled.

"I'm alright. Please, don't worry about me." Although Asuka didn't buy her expression, she pretended to abide her wishes, and the concern only grew bigger and bigger.

Later on during the day, Nao walked towards her next class, which was physical activity. As adamant about sports as she was, she pushed her feverish pain away and continued to play. She was paired with Asuka against Shō and Judai, the two Osiris students oblivious to her strange behavior. She heard a small squeak of some sort in the gym, and scanned the room to find the source. It was the second occurrence today and she could vaguely assume she was hallucinating. She was about to relay the ball back to the opponent but the gym began to violently spin and blur her vision. From their point of view, they witnessed her just barely missing the tennis ball, her expression blank and collapsing onto the floor. Judai, Shō and Asuka immediately dropped their rackets and crowded over her.

"Hey, Nao!" Judai shook her shoulder.

"Fukugawa, are you all right?" Shō fervently asked. Asuka felt Nao's forehead and drew it back in astonishment. It was very hot on her palm, and she was sweating profusely.

"She won't wake up."

"What's going on here?" Ayukawa, the gym teacher, approached them after spotting the young Obelisk losing her consciousness. The situation was simply self-explanatory for the teacher, who was also a nurse, so she told the trio to take Nao to the infirmary right away. Asuka propped her on Judai's back and followed him along with Shō out of the gym. When they arrived, he set her down on the bed and draped the white sheet over her body. Asuka felt her forehead again and frowned that it was still burning intensely.

"What could have happened to make her this sick?"

"Things like this happens, don't they?" Judai shrugged, but concern was also in his mind.

"I wonder if she'll be alright," Shō muttered. The three students were sent back to class and Ayukawa took a look at the ill Obelisk, her eyebrows furrowed. As her dorm head, it was also her responsibility to look after the female students, especially when male students were more dominant in the academy.

After making sure Nao took her medicine and placing a wet cloth on her head, Ayukawa left the clinic to teach the rest of her classes. The young girl, however, couldn't rest because the voices she faintly heard throughout the day bothered her. Her tension softened when she tried to listen to them this time, as though they were calling out to her. She couldn't put a finger on who they were because she couldn't see.

When Nao woke up from her troubled sleep, it was late in the evening. The cloth fell from her head and her thoughts trailed off to how she ended up in bed again. All she could recall was the voice in the gym that didn't belong to anyone. Suddenly, though she didn't want to believe it, there was a translucent creature sitting on the foot of her bed, hopping up and down to get her attention.

"What?" she murmured. Through her blurry line of vision, it was a small orange pineapple with large cartoonish eyes in a sad fashion. After hopping a few more times, it jumped off her bed and through the door leading to the hallway.

"Naturu Pineapple? Wait!" she called out and hastily got out of bed, ignoring the dizziness she felt. When she exited the infirmary, she spotted her duel monster card jumping through the corridor and chirped at her, beckoning to follow. Nao ran after it until it led her to the Ra Yellow arena where she heard a commotion going on. When she made it to her destination, Naturu Pineapple had seemingly disappeared.

"Look who it is: Fukugawa Nao of the deceptively power nature deck," a boy babied her. There was a red flag in her mind at the mockery, and Nao became wide awake. She strode into the arena and saw a crowd of Ra Yellow students with one particular duelist in the middle. They parted slightly until she stood a few feet away from him. He had spiky hair and edgy eyes carrying accuracy and ambition within. They surrounded the two students afterwards.

"What is going on that has to do with me?" She asked and he raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know about me? I suppose that was bound to happen with a high class student like yourself. I am Kagurazaka."

"Kagurazaka?" she repeated.

"As you can see," he held up a deck in his hand, "I've finally constructed a deck that can defeat your flawless and phony deck of yours."

"What makes you think so?" she cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Because I am challenging you to a duel. If I win, then I'll report this to Professor Chronos that I can be promoted to Obelisk Blue, seeing you were one of the top applicants of our year."

Before Nao could give her answer, Judai and Shō barged into the arena hollering at her, "Nao! Don't do it!"

"Judai? Shō?"

"Your condition is still in bad shape for you to duel, nevertheless stand," he warned.

"Back away, Osiris! This is between me and her!" Kagurazaka interrupted.

"Why you!" Judai was about to pounce onto him, Nao spoke up instead.

"Alright. I'll accept your challenge."

"Fukugawa! You need to rest," Shō protested. Nao nonchalantly took out her deck from her pocket and was handed her duel disk.

"I'll be all right. This might not take long," she lied through her teeth. The truth was that she wanted to find the source to all the voices in the back of her mind, whether they were real or an illusion. If her Naturu Pineapple could be seen outside of a duel, then perhaps she could somehow communicate with the rest of her deck.

The two duelists took their positions on the arena and initiated their disks.

"Duel!" They began with four thousand Life Points and five cards with Ra Yellow Students sitting on his side of the seats, while Judai and Shō on hers.

"You should take the first move, Fukugawa," Kagurazaka baited. Nao may not have bought his chivalry, she took the first move.

"Draw!" she drew her first card. "I activate the Permanent Magic Seed Shot. When a Plant-type monster is summoned, one Plant Counter will be placed on the card. Then, I will summon Naturu Rosewhip in Defense Mode." A rose with long lashes on its eyes and thorny tentacles sat on its card to defend Nao.

**Naturu Rosewhip (Level 3)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 400 DEF: 1700**

"When Naturu Rosewhip is face-up on my side of the field, my opponent can only activate one Magic or Trap card per turn." A Plant Counter was placed on her permanent magic card and she ended her turn.

"My turn, draw. I'll summon Lonefire Blossom in attack mode." An abstract flower with a bomb for its head bloomed on his field, which bewildered Nao because a Plant Counter was placed on her magic card, not to mention that she also had the same card somewhere in her deck.

**Lonefire Blossom (Level 3)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 500 DEF: 1400**

"A Plant-type monster?" she wondered. "Is that your strategy?"

"Actually, it is your strategy I will inherit after I defeat you. I activate Lonefire Blossom's monster effect: by tributing this card, I am allowed to Special Summon one Plant-type monster from my Deck. I sacrifice Lonefire Blossom to Special Summon Gigaplant from my Deck!" In the place of a visually harmless flower, a large fearsome and monstrous plant grew on his field, dripping with rotten aloe from its mouth. Nao began to feel sick in her stomach from the sight.

**Gigaplant (Level 6)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 2400 DEF: 1200**

"Gigaplant is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Cemetery. Since it is a Gemini Monster, I can Normal Summon this to be treated as an Effect Monster," Kagurazaka paused to proceed with his strategy to re-summon his monster and activate its effect. "Once per turn, I can Special Summon 1 Insect-Type or Plant-Type monster from my Hand or Cemetery. From my hand, I'll select Gigant Cephalotus!"

Another monstrous and unappealing lotus flower roared at Nao and her Naturu Rosewhip, which turned behind it with quivering lips and looking slightly blue. Nao tried to comfort it mentally by saying that everything will be fine in the end. She now had four Plant Counters on her card, meaning she could still have a chance to win.

**Gigant Cephalotus (Level 4)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 1850 DEF: 700**

"Battle! Gigant Cephalotus attacks Naturu Rosewhip! Lotus Soil Shot!" It shot out brown dirty from its mouth and squirted at the frail rose. When it shattered into pixels, Nao could have sworn she heard it cry, bringing her close to tears. "When Gigant Cephalotus attacks and destroys a Plant-type monster, it gains 200 attack points. Go on, Gigaplant! Direct Attack!" Kagurazaka wasted no time to inflict more than half of her Life Points, whose scream ripped from her throat, lowering them to sixteen hundred.

"Nao! Don't continue the duel!" Judai called out. Nao fervently shook her head in refusal, without having any intention on giving up.

"I'll place one card face down to end my turn," he smirked and crossed his arms in satisfaction.

Nao panted and wheezed before taking her next move. "Draw," she weakly rasped. "Permanent Magic Seed Cannon activates. By sending this card to the Cemetery with Plant Counters placed on it, I can inflict 500 points per counter to my opponent."

"Trap activate! Bribe of the Demonic Palace. At the cost of my opponent drawing one card, the activation of a Spell or Trap card is negated." Nao's chance to cut down his Life Points went down the drain when she drew her next card.

"Ritual Magic activate: Nature Monarchy Ritual. By sending the monster equal to the total level of stars of the Ritual Monster or more to the Cemetery, I can summon it. I tribute Naturu Gaodrake from my hand to Ritual Summon Naturu Barkion in Attack Mode!" Her large lionlike monster was sent to the cemetery and her dragon with a bark spine slithered on her field, protecting her.

**Naturu Barkion (Level 6)  
Dragon  
ATK: 2500 DEF:1800**

"Then I activate the Equip Magic Invigoration. An EARTH-type monster equipped with this card increases its attack points by 400, and decreases its defense points by 200. I'll equip this to Naturu Barkion!" From twenty-five hundred attack points, it was raised to twenty-nine hundred.

"Battle! Naturu Barkion attacks Gigaplant! Bark Cannon!" The bark from its back ejected themselves towards the gruesome plant and destroyed it. Kagurazaka scowled after losing five hundred points, but assured himself that he still had an overwhelming lead.

"I set one card face-down to end my turn."

"Not bad, but not for long, Fukugawa. My turn, draw! Your Naturu Barkion is a troublesome monster. I'll activate the Magic Card Earth Crush! This destroys the monster on my opponent's side of the field with the highest defense power! Naturu Barkion is the only one on your field. It's a shame."

The field started to crack around her Ritual Monster, but Nao was determined to never let it happen. "Trap card activate: Safety Zone. By selecting a monster on the field in Attack Position, it cannot be targeted or destroyed by my opponent's card effects or be destroyed by battle. Safety Zone equips to Naturu Barkion!"

There was an azure prism surrounding encasing him from the earthquake that would have sent it to the cemetery. Judai and Shō breathed a sigh of relief.

"I activate Angel's Charity. I draw three cards and discard two from my hand. Then I'll activate Resurrection of the Dead to revive Gigaplant from the Cemetery! Be revived: Gigaplant!" The monster she had just defeat was returned to the field.

"Next I activate Quick-Play Magic Pseudo Seed. This summons a Level 2 or below Plant-type monster from my hand. I'll summon Illusion Fairy." A blue skinned fairy with orange hair and wings fluttered in attack mode.

**Illusion Fairy (Level 2)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 300 DEF: 200**

"Then I'll activate Gigaplant's ability to Special Summon a Plant-Type monster from my Cemetery. I'll Special Summon Botanical Lion in attack mode." A golden lion with a red rose as the mane growled on the field.

**Botanical Lion (Level 4)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 1600 DEF: 2000**

"Then I'll activate Pot of Greed to draw two new cards." Nao's head started to spin from the combo that seemed like it would take forever to complete. Kagurazaka chuckled to himself at the results in his favor.

"Now, I'll summon Bristled Closer." A fat cactus bounced up and down with a wicked grin on its face.

**Bristled Closer (Level 4)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 1800 DEF: 300**

"With Bristled Closer on the field, neither player can Special Summon monsters." Ritual Summon counted as a Special Summon so she was nearly out of other alternative options to summon more than one monster per turn.

"Lastly, I'll activate the Equip Magic Ring of Magnetism towards Illusion Fairy. All monsters can only attack this monster as long as this card is equipped." Although the attack and defense power was deceased to zero, its ability can choose another target on the field.

"Botanical Lion's ability increases its attack power by 300 for every Plant-type monster I control. In total, Botanical Lion's attack is 3100!" He praised himself for surpassing Naturu Barkion.

"Battle: Botanical Lion attacks Naturu Barkion. Petal Death Bite!" He commanded his monster to take a mouthful of the bark-like dragon and losing two hundred more Life Points to fourteen thousand.

"Turn end. How's that? You honestly can't think of defeating my strategy."

"I wonder about that," Nao weakly mused.

"Of course you can't. Only seven more attacks and your life points will drop to zero."

"That is exactly my point. How will you defeat me with that amount of time? You're too open for options, Kagurazaka."

"Shut up! You're just bluffing. It's obvious I can use Plant-type monsters better than you can!" he yelled.

"I don't have anything to say to you. We'll leave it at that. Draw," she drew her next card.

"I activate Graceful Charity." Knowing the effect, she wordlessly drew three more cards and discarded two. "I'll end my turn."

"I thought so. This duel will be mine, Fukugawa. My turn, draw! Battle! Botanical Lion attacks Naturu Barkion. Petal Death Bite!" Another bite costed her two hundred more Life Points down to twelve hundred, one step closer to defeat.

"I'll switch all my monsters into defense mode to end my turn." Before Nao could draw her next card, the nausea and dizziness was overwhelming her again. She barely caught herself from collapsing because everything was almost set for his defeat.

"Draw!" she drew and closed her eyes. She could tell for sure that she heard her duel monsters communicating with her. Earlier, one of her cards winked at her, which made her smile at the reassurance.

"I'll activate the Magic Card Landoise's Luminous Moss. When a Naturu monster is on my side of the field, the effects of the opponent's Effect Monsters cannot be activated this turn. Next I activate Equip Magic Fulfillment of the Contract. By paying eight hundred Life Points, I can Special Summon one Ritual Monster from my Cemetery. Be revived, King of Mother Nature: Naturu Gaodrake!"

The lordly lion of her deck leapt onto the field, ready for retaliation. Nao knew that her mere four hundred Life Points will be worth it.

**Naturu Gaodrake (Level 9)  
Beast-Type  
ATK: 3000 DEF: 1800**

"Then I'll activate the Equip Magic Fairy Meteor Crush to Naturu Gaodrake, which allows it to inflict piercing damage to a defense position monster." Kagurazaka's demeanor began to falter at her sudden comeback that could cost him his duel.

"Lastly, I activate the Naturu Ladybug in my Cemetery after successfully summoning a Ritual Monster by summoning and sacrificing it, it will increase Naturu Gaodrake's attack power by 1000 points."

**Naturu Ladybug (Level 1)  
Insect-Type  
ATK: 100 DEF: 100**

"Impossible! I had everything calculated so I could win against you! Why is this possible?"

"It's because you lack the true strategy of a Plant-type deck. You lack faith in your monsters because you constantly change decks. I had hoped for a better challenge, Kagurazaka. Because of your Ring of Magnetism Equip Magic and Landoise's Luminous Moss's effect, your Illusion Fairy is the only target I can attack."

Kagurazaka panicked with his cards in his hand but Nao didn't want to waste any more time.

"Battle! Naturu Gaodrake attacks Illusion Fairy! Bellow out: Lion Pride Roar!" She commanded her lion to attack, which elicited a loud ground-shaking roar that made the fairy shriek shrilly and shatter in to pixels, dishing out four thousand points of damage and defeating him.

"She did it!" Shō cheered.

"You're awesome, Nao!" Judai followed up while shooting up from his seat.

After collecting her cards back into her deck, Nao's body started to waver in exhaustion, without anyone nearby to support her.

"Nao!" Judai shouted and raced towards her before she dropped but someone beat him to it to his surprise. In Kaiser Ryō's arms was a weary and unresponsive Nao, whose head was resting on his broad chest and holding her close.

"Kaiser," he addressed.

"I'll take her back. I'll leave you to deal with him now, Judai," he said without facing towards him. He picked her up properly and took her out of the arena.

"I'm counting on you, Kaiser!" he hollered back as he watched him disappear in the gate. Judai looked at the defeated Kagurazaka and his cards scattered around him on the floor, in agony that he was beaten. Judai smiled to himself and his partner, Winged Kuribō appeared.

"Did I see things right?"

The furry creature nodded. He was able to catch a peek at her Naturu Pineapple trailing behind Ryō. "I guess she didn't know until now. Now I know that I'm not the only one anymore." Winged Kuribō gave an eye-smile and retreated back into its card.

While the Kaiser carried Nao back into the clinic, he reminisced how he found out about her sickly condition and watched her duel. Something tugged his heart to be more protective towards her like he would for Shō. She was precious, he thought along those lines. He felt her snuggling her head deeper in his chest as she slept soundly. His deep green eyes softened while he adjusted his hold. What a foolish girl she was - precious but foolish.


	11. Showdown

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Showdown**

While being forced in bed by Judai and Asuka until her fever broke, she was informed about how Kagurazaka was more known as a copy duelist. He even went as far to steal Mutō Yugi's exhibition deck to prove himself invincible. However, Judai took the matter in his own hands to stop him from steal other strategies and create his own. The last straw occurred when Kagurazaka decided to copy Judai, while getting his stances, mannerisms and catchphrases wrong.

They also told her about a fifth grade elementary schooler, Saotome Rei, disguising herself as a boy to transfer to the academy, just so she could follow the Kaiser around. Judai somehow coerced her into a duel to give her a chance to hide her identity, but Ryō found out enough of the truth to send her back to her hometown because she was even younger than Nao to stay.

While on the road to recovery, she spent most of her own free time communicating with Naturu Pineapple, who became a very formidable and fond companion. With some noises coming from her deck, she rarely felt lonely anymore. Even most of the bullying had ceased with the exception of some harmless threats from other girls. Take Kochō Ran, for example, when she pranced around the school claiming that the Kaiser was hers. Because of her personal vendetta against Nao from the mid-term exam, she rubbed it in her face quite frequently. It didn't bother her but she found the upper-year student to be an extreme eyesore.

Meanwhile in the staff room, Ryō was called in to be a part of the discussion about choosing the representative of the School Duel against the Northern Branch of Duel Academia. Professor Chronos was so keen on choosing him to be the representative again since he won the previous year, Principal Samejima disagreed. The Italian proctor slammed his perfectly manicured hands on the table and shot up from his seat.

"Why is that? For our good-will duel with the Duel Academia's North Campus, our Signor Marufuji Ryō must be chosen as our representative, just as he was last year!"

"If the other representative wasn't a First-Year student, then that would have been possible," the principal gave his reasoning, which Professor Chronos was taken aback. "To that end, it would be best if our representative was also a First-Year student, wouldn't it? What do you think, Marufuji?" he turned to the third-year student for his opinion.

"I do not mind," he said.

"Well then, the question now is who should be our new representative," he mused, but Ryō had an absolute answer to share.

"Yuki Judai."

"It looks like this would be a tough choice," Daitokuji pondered while stroking his cat, Pharaoh. The other professors in the room discussed amongst themselves whether or not the Kaiser meant his answer.

"I believe he will give us an interesting duel," Ryō reasoned.

"I have no doubt about his skills," Samejima seemed to agree.

Professor Chronos racked through his brain from nook to cranny, searching for someone who could also prove his or herself a challenge to be the representative. The lightbulb lit up when he found his own definition of a perfect candidate.

"In that case, I nominate Fukugawa Nao!"

"From Obelisk Blue?" Samejima skeptically questioned. Ryō stiffened at her name, worrying for her.

"How about we have the two of them battle, the winner becoming our representative?" Chronos proposed. Samejima turned to the Kaiser again for his opinion, which he became very hesitant.

Back in Daitokuji's history class, the cat-loving professor called upon his two students, Judai and Nao as nominees for the school representative of the upcoming duel against North Campus. Their ears perked up at the unexpected news.

"Huh? Me?" he asked while pointing at himself.

"That is correct. You'll duel Miss Fukugawa, and whoever wins can enter the duel against the North Campus. I hope you'll give us a good duel." Judai looked behind him at Nao, sharing identical grins in agreement.

After the lesson, Judai and his group stayed behind along with Nao. Shō was also very ecstatic for his 'Big Bro'. "It's awesome that you can be the academy's representative!"

"So far, nobody from Osiris Red has ever been chosen as the representative," Hayato praised. Judai heard Nao's footsteps and faced her.

"I guess our chance to battle it out came pretty soon, right?"

"Yes, though neither of us expected this coming. I am prepared, however, to oppose your Elemental Hero deck," she said, which was the truth. Her deck had many strategies she hadn't revealed at school yet. She purposely wanted to save a specific tactic to challenge Judai.

"So you have your perfect strategy yet?"

"Not quite," she half-lied, "But it will be complete before we duel."

"I'm looking forward to it!" he expressed with excitement with his hand stretched out for her to take. She shook it in return and went back up the steps out of the classroom with a smile still stuck on her face. Along the way, she met up with Asuka, who shared her anticipation for her important match. As they usually spent their weekdays, they stayed together throughout the day and into the evening.

When they returned to their dorm rooms, Asuka asked Nao, "Do you want me to help you adjust your deck for tomorrow?"

Nao politely declined, "I think I can handle it this time. I do appreciate it though."

"Well, don't work so hard, especially after you just recovered from your fever," she chided before entering her room. Nao giggled and went inside hers.

Later on during the night, she reminisced the basic strategies Judai had frequently used to earn his victories while laying on her stomach in bed. She thought about his Elemental Heroes and the support cards that accompanied them. After racking through her brain to find the key card he used, her eyes brightened and she sat up straight when she found the answer. She tweaked and exchanged different cards in her deck and sorted out combos she could use. With every tactic she came up with, the confidence and courage grew stronger.

Naturu Pineapple appeared and hopped to get her attention.

"What is it?" she asked. The cartoon fruit leapt onto her lap and buried itself into her stomach, though she didn't feel it.

"We can do it. I believe in you and my deck," she told it, in which he made a tiny sound in affirmation.

The next day, the entire school body arrived at the Obelisk Arena for the showdown to determine the representative of the school. Professor Chronos stood up on one side of the field to lead the audience into the main event.

"Signori e Signore! Our apologies for making you wait! We are now commencing the academy representative decision duel!" The students cheered in excitement for action. Chronos gestured to his right side, "From Obelisk Blue, we have Signora Fukugawa Nao!" The young girl took in deep breaths to calm herself in front of a large crowd. Although this wasn't the first time, all the attention was going towards solely on both her and Judai, who was standing across from her.

"And, from Osiris Red, we have Yuki Judai," he trailed off, somewhat disregarding him. Judai, however, paid no mind to the Italian professor. He stared into Nao's firm expression he rarely saw before a duel.

"Judging from that face, I guess you finished it?"

"I have. Prepare yourself, Judai because I won't hold back," she gave her warning for him.

"I won't be losing though," he said to himself, "But don't look so cold-hearted. This is a duel after all."

"How rude of you, thinking that I'm cold-hearted," she recoiled with a slight pout, stammering a little.

From the top of the stands, Asuka watched Judai and Nao take their positions and prepare their disks for the duel. She saw Ryō approaching her from the side. "This will be an interesting duel," he said.

"Yes, I suppose," she half-heartedly replied. The Kaiser caught onto her faltering tone and turned to her.

"Asuka?"

She fumbled and denied her doubt by saying, "It's nothing." Ryō didn't pry into her thoughts anymore, but he kept a clouded look on his face when he stared down at them on the field. He could only hope that his hesitant approval he gave would turn out better for them, especially the underaged student.

"And now, we shall begin!" Chronos announced.

"Let's go, Nao!" Judai shouted.

"Duel!" they began with four thousand life points and their first five cards.

"I'll take the first move. Draw!" she said as she drew her first card. "I'll summon Naturu Antjaw in Defense Mode." A small ant holding onto a large sunflower seed materialized itself on the field.

**Naturu Antjaw (Level 2)  
Insect-Type  
ATK: 400 DEF: 200**

"I end my turn."

"You'll be showing me your strategy right? I'll force it out if I need to. My turn! Draw!" He taunted, "I summon Elemental Hero Burstlady in Attack Mode!" A woman with sleek black hair and a red form-fitting outfit bursted into the field from flames.

**Elemental Hero Burstlady (Level 3)  
Warrior-Type  
ATK: 1200 DEF: 800**

Nao recalled that Burstlady was one of the Fusion Materials to summon Flame Wingman. She held in her breath, waiting for what might happen next.

"Here goes, Nao! I use Burstlady to attack Naturu Antjaw!" The flame manipulator slashed her small insect and sent it to her Cemetery in a matter of seconds.

"I'll set one reverse card face-down, ending my turn."

"This is still the beginning. Draw!" she said, and smiled to herself that she drew the card she needed. "I summon Naturu Beans in Defense Mode!" She placed her monster and a pod of three green beans popped onto the field.

**Naturu Beans (Level 2)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 100 DEF: 1200**

"Then I set one card face-down to end my turn."

"You're not going to take any chances?" he asked, puzzled.

"Judai, I suggest not to underestimate my deck," she teased him. "After all, you are what you called yourself 'Number One'."

Ryō and Asuka kept watching the duel with their critical eyes, commenting on them once in a while. "Nao is thinking very carefully. Her deck is showing that she had prepared for Judai's deck for a long time."

"Still, a duel isn't won by strategy alone. Judai has the ability to adapt to the flow of a duel," she countered. He gave her a questioning look but she quickly denied him.

"It's not favoritism. It's just what I think from watching him duel."

"My turn! Draw!" Judai took his next turn. "I'll activate the Magic Card, Angel's Charity. I draw three cards from my Deck and discard two from my Hand to the Cemetery. I'll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in Attack Mode!" A electrifying masked man appeared on the field, which made Nao's beans quiver slightly.

**Elemental Hero Sparkman (Level 4)  
Warrior-Type  
ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400**

"Next, from my hand, I activate the Equip Magic, Spark Gun! I'm equipping it to Sparkman! Because of this card's effect, I'm able to change the battle mode of one opposing monster!" Sparkman fired a blast from his Spark Gun and forcibly switched the teary Naturu Beans into attack mode. "I switch Naturu Beans to Attack Mode!"

"Burstlady, you're attacking Naturu Beans! Burst Fire!" Before the attack could hit her monster, Nao interfered his battle phase.

"Trap Card activate: Plant Food Chain! By equipping this card to a Plant-Type monster I control, it will gain 500 attack points." Naturu Beans's attack power was raised to six hundred, but her combo wasn't quite finished yet. "Naturu Bean's monster effect: Once per turn, it cannot be destroyed by battle. When it is selected as an attack target, it inflicts 500 points of damage to the opponent. Pod Shield!" The green beans hid under the pod and protected themselves from the attack, though Nao ended up losing six hundred Life Points. Judai also lost five hundred points, which was still an even match.

"Naturu Hydrangea's monster effect from my hand activates: when the effect of a Naturu monster was activated during this turn, this card can be Special Summoned. Appear: Naturu Hydrangea!" A group of purple and blue flowers bloomed onto her field.

**Naturu Hydrangea (Level 5)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 1900 DEF: 2000**

"Not bad, but now Naturu Beans can be destroyed in battle. Go, Sparkman! You're attacking Naturu Beans!" Sparkman projected a torrent of electricity and was about to shock them.

"I won't let you so easily. I activate from my hand Quick-Play Magic Cyclone! I can destroy one Magic or Trap card on the field. I select Plant Food Chain!"

Judai's eyes widened, "But you'll lower Naturu Bean's attack points!" When her trap card was destroyed, Naturu Beans reverted to 100 attack points, which was a large blow to Nao, costing her fifteen hundred life points. Her total was nineteen hundred.

"Don't forget, since Naturu Beans was an attack target, you lose 500 points." Judai's total was three thousand, but Nao had to step up to her game if she wanted to win.

"How's that? My Elemental Heroes are strong, aren't they?"

"Perhaps, but Plant Food Chain's effect activates when destroyed while equipped. It allows me to Special Summon a Plant-type monster from my Cemetery. Naturu Beans returns to the field!" The beans popped up in the same fashion as before into defense position.

"I will show you the power of my deck! Draw!" She declared. "I tribute Naturu Beans to summon Naturu Bamboo Shoot!" The beans disappeared while a pair of small bamboo shoots hopped up in attack mode.

**Naturu Bamboo Shoot (Level 5)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 2000 DEF: 2000**

"Next I activate the Magic Card Barkion's Scale. When a Naturu monster is on my field, the opponent cannot activate Trap Cards this turn." Judai scowled to himself when he realized he couldn't defend his monsters at the moment.

"Naturu Bamboo Shoot attacks Burstlady!" She commanded her monster, who threw themselves into her and destroyed her. Judai's life points was now eight hundred points lower to twenty-two hundred.

"Next, Naturu Hydrangea attacks Sparkman!" She commanded her second monster to scatter seeds at him to the Cemetery, which tied his life points to hers. "My turn is now finished. Now what will you do, Judai?" she asked him. Although she briefly used the two monsters on her field during her exam, she hardly explained their abilities, which would serve her to her advantage.

"That's impressive; an amazing combo. But, this is just getting started! My turn! Draw!" His grin got wider when he drew a card he absolutely needed. "First I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards from my Deck. Then I activate Resurrection of the Dead to revive Sparkman from the Cemetery. Since you sacrificed a monster to call your new monster, then I'll answer back to your all in the same way! I'll fuse the Sparkman on my field with Featherman and Bubbleman from my hand, to summon out my strongest Hero, Tempester! I activate the Magic card, Fusion!"

"Naturu Bamboo Shoot's effect will now be in play!" Judai stopped in his tracks to listen. "When Naturu Bamboo Shoot was summoned by sacrificing a Naturu monster, my opponent cannot activate Magic and Trap cards as long as this card is on my field!" His key card was negated before his eyes and sent back to his hand as a result.

"What? Are you saying I can't use Magic or Trap cards?"

"Your trump cards are monsters summoned by fusing your Elemental Heroes together. They are also enhanced and powered up by Equip Magics and Trap cards, so it was best if I disabled all aid."

"So this tactic you were talking about?"

"That's right. This is my deck's true power: lock down. This prevents my opponents from using monster effects, magic and trap cards, the basic building blocks of a deck."

"Lock down, a difficult strategy when the player negates the use of monster effects, magic, traps and attacks from the opponent. Nao must have been saving this tactic for Judai, a perfect example of a deck with a perfect balance of those cards," Ryō observed from above.

"Yes, but it's up to Judai to figure out any weaknesses before she takes away all his options," Asuka added.

Chronos was celebrating to himself that Judai could potentially lose the duel, making the right choice to nominate an Obelisk Blue. Daitokuji mused at the situation to his cat Pharaoh while Principal Samejima continued to watch silently.

"I'll summon Elemental Hero Featherman in Defense mode." the green masked hero with wings and claws knelt over in defense in front of Judai. "I'll switch Sparkman to Defense mode, finishing my turn." He felt damned because even his most basic monster couldn't reach over two thousand attack points, hinting at Nao's Naturu Bamboo Shoot.

**Elemental Hero Featherman (Level 3)  
Warrior-Type  
ATK: 1000 DEF: 1000**

"How is my strategy, made to oppose you, treating you?" she asked across the field.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it more than ever: how I'll beat your deck you put so much thought into! It makes me excited!" he smiled, which she found it strange but contagious.

"That's just like you, but the only thing you can do right now is to summon monsters. Two thirds of your deck is sealed as long as Bamboo Shoot is on the field. I'll prove it now. Draw!" she drew her next card.

"Battle! Naturu Bamboo Shoot attacks Elemental Hero Sparkman! Bamboo Frenzy!" Her monster concentrated so hard that sharp stocks of bamboos rose up from the ground and took out his Sparkman in the process, destroying the Spark Gun along with it.

"Next, Naturu Hydrangea attacks Elemental Hero Featherman! Pollen Poison!" A spore of purple pollen whiffed towards the green feathered hero and sent it to the cemetery, leaving Judai's field wide open.

"Lastly, I activate Permanent Magic: World Tree. For every Plant-type on the field that is destroyed in battle, a Flower Counter will be added to this card. My turn is finished. Now, what will you do now, Yuki Judai?"

"Lock down, huh? Things like that don't matter!" he replied, which she raised an eyebrow. "In a duel, it's your heart that's important. As long as I don't admit defeat in my heart, I'll keep fighting."

Nao replayed his answer in her mind, realizing that she had been lacking so much heart during her duels. It was the reason why she couldn't enjoy dueling even her most tedious and insulting opponents. Judai was actually teaching her something.

"My turn! Draw! Hey, Nao! Your Bamboo Shoot is your key card to seal off Fusion, right? Then, from my Cemetery, I'll activate Elemental Hero Necro Darkman's monster effect."

"That's impossible! That monster was never on the field-" she stopped when she remembered him playing Angel's Charity two turns ago in which he discarded two cards from his hand. One of them must have been Necro Darkman.

"That time?"

"That's right. While this card is in the Cemetery, I can summon 1 Level 5 or higher "Elemental Hero" monster from my hand without Tributes. I'm summoning Elemental Hero Edgeman!" From a summoning portal in the center monster zone, out came a large burly man clad in a shiny gold and intimidating armor.

**Elemental Hero Edgeman (Level 7)  
Warrior-Type  
ATK: 2600 DEF: 1800**

"Summoning a monster with 2600 attack points without fusing?" Nao gritted her teeth.

"Go, Edgeman! You're attacking Naturu Bamboo Shoot!" The golden-armored warrior ignited his jet engines and sliced her monster in half in a blink of an eye, lowering Nao's Life Points to thirteen-hundred and putting Judai in the lead again.

"Permanent Magic World Tree's effect activates. When a Plant-type monster was destroyed in battle, a Flower Counter is added." The once flowerless tree finally had one that bloomed on the lowest branch.

"Now my magic and trap cards can be used again, but first, I activate the Magic Card Dark Factory of Mass Production. This allows me to select two Normal Monsters from my Cemetery and add them to my hand. So I'll be taking back Featherman and Burstlady to my hand, ending my turn."

Nao sighed wistfully at the broken strategy, but there was some sort of adrenaline that she wanted to keep dueling. She gave a smile and complimented, "Not bad," which he returned a bigger grin.

"Yeah, but now you look like you're going to cry," his smile fell but she gave a frustrated look.

"I'm not going to cry!" Her cheeks were flushed but Judai put his hands out in front of him.

"I didn't say you were, but have a little more fun here, can you?"

"We'll see, Judai! Draw!" Nao looked at her card and subsequently played it. "I activate Pot of Greed. From my deck, I draw two more cards. Then I activate the Ritual Magic: High-Class Ritual Art! To select one Ritual Monster from my hand, I send Normal Monsters from my Deck to the Cemetery whose total Levels are equal to that Ritual Monster's. I send Level 4 Neo Bug and Level 5 Queen of Autumn Leaves to the Cemetery, to Ritual Summon the King of Mother Nature: Naturu Gaodrake!"

When her most powerful monster finally appeared before the two duelists, Judai stared up at it in awe. "There it is: Nao's killer card."

**Naturu Gaodrake (Level 9)  
Beast-Type  
ATK: 3000 DEF: 1800**

"Battle! Naturu Gaodrake attacks Elemental Hero Edgeman!" When her Ritual Monster pounced up into the air and proceeded to take down Judai's monster, he activated his long delayed set card.

"I'll activate the trap card: Hero Barrier! When an Elemental Hero is selected as an attack target, that attack is negated." A spiral of what looked like a shield protected Edgeman, and also didn't deal out any damage.

"I switch Naturu Hydrangea to Defense position and end my turn."

"My turn! Draw! Go, Edgeman! You're attacking Naturu Hydrangea!" It charged to the frail group of flowers and violently cut them apart, saddening her. "Also Edgeman's ability inflicts damage based on the difference between its attack points and your monster's defense points. Nao had only seven hundred Life Points left, but she kept telling herself that it was only a matter of time before she would ensure her victory.

"World Tree gains its second Flower Counter after Naturu Hydrangea was destroyed," she reminded him as another flower bloomed into the tree.

"I'll end my turn," he said, but he got a glimpse of the same orange pineapple peeking out from behind Nao's shoulder. His partner, Winged Kuribō, reappeared and tried to call out to it. The cartoon fruit shied away and peered out just slightly again. It was that same spirit he had seen before after her duel with Kagurazaka, feeling a bit amused himself.

"Draw!" Nao drew her next card. "From my hand, I'll summon Naturu Ragweed in Attack mode!" A bundle of yellow and green ragweeds materialized on the field, though appeared to be slightly confused as to why it was in attack position.

**Naturu Ragweed (Level 3)  
Plant-Type  
ATK: 1200 DEF: 2000**

"Battle! Naturu Gaodrake attacks Elemental Hero Edgeman! Bellow out: Lion Pride Roar!" she attempted her beast to attack Edgeman again, and this time, she successfully cleared his field again and cut his Life Points to fifteen hundred.

"Edgeman," he mumbled.

"Naturu Ragweed, direct attack! Razor Whip!" Nao felt more accomplished when she landed a direct attack on top of defeating a powerful non-fusion monster. Her battle phase had put her in the lead by four hundred points. In fact, the end of the duel was nearing and only one of them could win. "I end my turn."

Judai immediately took his next turn as if he was running out of time. "My turn! Draw! I'll Summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman!" A hero clad in a blue colour scheme leapt into the field.

**Elemental Hero Bubbleman (Level 3)  
Warrior-Type  
ATK: 800 DEF: 1200**

"When Bubbleman is the only card on the field, I can draw two more cards from my Deck. Then I activate the Equip Magic Bubble Shot! This card raises Bubbleman's attack points by 800. I use Bubbleman to attack Naturu Ragweed!" The water-attribute hero fired a speedy water shot from the equip spell and drowned her plant along with four hundred Life Points, tying the two duelists again.

"World Tree gains its third Flower Counter," she said as another flower bloomed on the tree.

"I'll set a reverse card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw! I activate World Tree's effect. At the cost of three flower counters, I can Special Summon any Plant-type monster from my Cemetery to the field. Be revived: Naturu Bamboo Shoot!" The same pair of bamboo plants reappeared beside Naturu Gaodrake, but since Nao didn't sacrifice a monster to summon it, its effect didn't activate.

"This will finish you! Battle! Naturu Bamboo Shoot attacks Elemental Hero Bubbleman! Bamboo Frenzy!" She commanded her first monster, but instead of Bubbleman, Bubble Shot was destroyed instead.

"When Bubbleman is targeted for an attack, Bubble Shot gets destroyed and negates him from being destroyed."

"It won't make a difference now! Go, Naturu Gaodrake and attack Elemental Hero Bubbleman! Bellow out: Lion Pride Roar!" When it gave a loud roar that echoed through the arena, Judai intercepted it.

"Trap Card open: Attack Nullification! When the opponent attacks during their turn, it is negated and the Battle Phase ends." Naturu Gaodrake's roar softened and then became silent. Bubbleman was still in play with only eight hundred attack points to defend himself.

"I end my turn," she finished, her mood slightly dampened because she took her opportunity to win too hastily.

Judai stood still for a brief period of time, with options that may not work in his favor. He grinned again and said, "This is fun. I've never had a more exciting duel!" For some reason she didn't expect, Nao wholeheartedly agreed.

"This deck is reconstructed to meet your match. Bring your all out on me, too!"

"Right! I'll let my all out! Draw!" He glanced at his new card and his eyes had a twinkle that meant something good for him. "I'll be summing out a new Elemental Hero and I think you'll like him a lot! First I activate the Magic Card Fusion! I fuse Featherman and Burstlady from my hand to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" The same fusion summoning he used so frequently finally happened in their duel - the tactic she wanted to seal off so badly. Then it hit her when she realized that he had a good amount of time to use Fusion when Bamboo Shoot was destroyed. That could only mean that there was something more powerful waiting to appear.

**Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (Level 6)  
Warrior-Type  
ATK: 2100 DEF: 1200**

"Then I activate the Magic Card Fusion Recovery! This card salvages Fusion and Sparkman from the Cemetery." With each passing card he played on his duel disk, the more terrified but excited she became. Just what is the new Elemental Hero he was talking about, she asked herself.

"Then I activate Fusion again to fuse Flame Wingman and Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman!" Just when his favorite Fusion monster looked majestic, Shining Flare Wingman looked so heavenly - so beautiful in her eyes. The lustrous light illuminated the already bright arena, and blinded some people in the audience.

**Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman (Level 8)  
Warrior-Type  
ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100**

"Amazing, Judai's new hero," she whispered to herself.

"For every "Elemental Hero" card in my Cemetery, Shining Flare Wingman's attack power goes up by 300 points." Nao counted in her mind that there was Featherman, Burstlady, Sparkman, Edgeman and Flame Wingman, increasing its attack power by fifteen hundred for a total of four thousand.

"4000 attack points?"

"That's also not all. Shining Flare Wingman's monster effect deals the attack power of the opposing monster it destroys in battle as damage to the opposing player. Shining Flare Wingman, attack Naturu Gaodrake! Shining Shoot!" The luminous hero charged towards the beast and pierced through the King of Mother Nature, dealing one thousand points of damage along with three thousand from its attack points, guaranteeing Nao's defeat and Judai's victory.

Nao didn't feel the urge to be a sore loser, but she felt satisfied somehow. Naturu Pineapple reappeared beside her, who gave her a smile saying that she was perfectly fine.

"The winner, from Osiris Red, is Yuki Judai! Congratulations, you are our Duel Academia's representative," Principal Samejima gave his blessing to him, which he bashfully took it gratefully. Shō, Hayato and Misawa came up to Judai, giving him praise.

"Judai," she approached to him, "I lost. You are indeed strong and I did feel honored to duel you today. However, I'm going to keep trying until I can surpass you one day."

"Yeah, I'll be looking forward to it, but you're deck is already powerful especially with that Naturu Gaodrake as your ace monster."

Nao suppressed her giggles and Judai asked why she was laughing. "To tell you the truth, Naturu Gaodrake isn't my ace monster."

His jaw dropped in disbelief. Shō mirrored his look when he heard her innocent confession. "You're serious? Then was that Bamboo Shoot your ace monster?"

She playfully shook her head. "Actually, it's not in my deck."

"Why didn't you use it?"

Nao lowered her head and softly answered him, "This will sound odd, but I want to wait for the right time and the right opponent to use it."

Judai surprisingly understood what she meant and nodded. "I see. I get it but I'll also look forward to seeing your ace monster, Nao. Gotcha!" He winked and pointed his two fingers: his signature move.

"That was a fun duel," she finished for him with her hand outstretched to shake his hand. He ruffled her hair in a brotherly fashion before returning the handshake. She gave him a look for doing that before the group burst into laughter.

* * *

Note: there is a reason why Judai summoned Shining Flare Wingman early.


	12. Formidable Thunder

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!GX except for Fukugawa Nao. All Naturia Synchro Monsters are changed to Ritual Monsters and Tuner Monsters are converted to regular Effect Monsters. Credits go to Takahashi Kazuki and Director Tsuji Hatsuki.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Formidable Thunder**

The night before the School Duel, Nao went to the lighthouse to reflect on how much had changed about herself. The first was when she had that severe fever which later on developed her ability to see duel monster spirits like her Naturu Pineapple. The second was a new point of view about dueling, thanks to Judai. Somehow, the Osiris Red classmate was able to make her smile so easily and she appreciated it very much. Even her partner could tell for itself.

"You're smiling more often," Ryō noticed when he arrived to see her. Nao instinctively covered her lips to hide it.

"Was I?" she shyly mused. The Kaiser didn't answer but he changed the subjects slightly.

"You really gave your all when you dueled Judai. It was the best I've seen you," he said.

"Maybe it's because Judai taught me something," she recollected after removing her hand.

"What was it?"

"To enjoy the excitement of an innocent duel."

"An innocent duel?"

"When I faced him, the opportunity to be the representative of the School Duel didn't matter. All I thought about was that I was having fun too."

"I see," he said as they looked out at the rolling waves of the evening. They stayed comfortably silent for another while. He looked beside him to see that Nao was still smiling so fondly, this time with her eyes matching the happiness. For a mysterious reason, seeing her look like she was in peace brought warmth in him - satisfying him.

"Nao," he called her name. She gave a gentle humming sound while still watching the waves. "Keep smiling." Nao looked up at him, wondering why he said that.

"If you do, then you won't have to be afraid of those whispers anymore." Her expression lowered visibly, hiding something from him.

"You still hear them talking about you behind your back, don't you?" She didn't answer him.

"If you continue to smile and feel happy, then you'll be alright."

"I hope so," she mumbled, hoping that his advice would help her. The two spent the next chilly while watching the waves in silent before they returned to their rooms to rest. Nao glanced at the neatly folded handkerchief on the corner of her desk and inwardly smiled. It had been her good luck charm ever since Ryō gave it to her to keep.

Before she forgot, she went to her computer to check her email, which she had received something new from her father. When she read it, her expression darkened about what he reported. With a sigh, she decided to create an investigation tomorrow during the School Duel. There was something going to go on that even Judai's opponent wouldn't like, though it was difficult for her to step in. After all, she was the duelist who he despised the most.

The next morning, all the students including the professors and the principal watched the submarine from the North Campus arrive at the harbor. Nao stayed hidden from the crowd, in case she may encounter her 'client'. Judai skid towards the two principals, feeling excited to meet his opponent.

"Mr. Principal, that's enough greeting! Hurry and introduce me to my opponent!" He gave a grin, oblivious to Samejima about how rude he was bring.

"Still, I just want to hurry and see who I'm facing."

"Is that right? So, you're the rumored Judai, are you?" The North Campus principal, Ichinose, asked.

"Pleased to meet ya! Old man, are you the Mr. Principal from the North Campus?" The elderly man fell over, but Judai was too eager to know. "So who is it? Who's the guy I'm facing?"

"It's me," a familiar voice from the submarine answered his question. Nao narrowed her eyes at Manjōme, who wore a black trench coat with a dark coloured top and pants to match.

"Who's that?" Judai asked again.

"It's me," he repeated.

"Manjōme? It's Manjōme!"

"It's _The_ Manjōme," he corrected, which was something Nao had never heard from him before.

"So who is it?"

"I'm right in front of you."

"Huh? Who?"

"It's me."

"Which one?" Judai was still clueless, completely disregarding his surprising appearance.

"Like I said, it's me!" he shouted.

"Me... so you're saying that my opponent for the School Duel is Manjōme?" Judai exclaimed.

"It's _The_ Manjōme," he frustratedly corrected again.

"Thunder!" the North students echoed.

"First-year! We've heard of how you don't address Thunder with an honorific," one of them noted.

"So, how about we teach you a lesson?" another threatened.

"Leave him be," Manjōme said, and stared him down with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

Suddenly, there was a gust of wind and a chopping noise coming from up above.

"That mark!" Misawa noted above the loud winds. Nao followed his gaze and found the "Man" symbol on the bottom of the helicopters: the Manjōme Group. They finally came, according to her email.

"It's been a while, Jun! Have you been doing well?" One of the two men hollered down below to Manjōme.

"Big Brother Chōsaku? Big Brother Shōji? What are you here to do?" he narrowed his eyes at them.

"Isn't it obvious? to give your victory our blessings!" Shōji answered as the helicopter landed on the island.

"Don't worry us too much, Jun!" Chōsaku added.

Nao spotted cameramen and other crew shooting the scene, which meant that there was something else added to the School Duel than she expected.

"Can I ask what this fuss is about?" Samejima asked one of the crewmen.

"You haven't heard? This year, we'll be broadcasting the Duel Academia's Interschool Match all across the country, live on TV!"

"A TV broadcast!?" Judai exclaimed, thrilled to have a little taste of fame. "Then, does that mean my face will be aired all across Japan?" After rolling her eyes and shaking her head at his behavior, Nao slipped away from the crowd and followed the Manjōme brothers, making sure she wouldn't be seen. She stopped near the boys' change rooms when they entered in. She was about to leave until she realized she was able to eavesdrop on their conversation.

" Just what are you trying to do?" Manjōme asked.

"We've decided, didn't we?" Chōsaku said. "This TV broadcast is our first plan to make the promise between us siblings a reality."

"Plan?" Nao thought to herself.

"Our dream is to make the world into the Manjōme Empire! To that end, our goal today is to promote you and make you the star of the card game world."

"Jun," Shōji said, "We heard from a 'Professor Chronos.' You dropped out from here three months ago, didn't you?"

"Well," he stammered.

"Listen, Jun! You were always the bum out of us siblings!" he scolded.

"Since our Manjōme Group organization is sponsoring this TV broadcast, you simply cannot afford to lose!" Chõsaku added. Nao's expression fell at the lecture the two elder siblings were giving him. She couldn't help but feel that the situation was partially her fault. With a heavier heart, she continued to listen.

"In here are loads of cards that our elder brother and I have spent money to assemble. You'll use these and make yourself the ultimate deck! Understand, Jun? You had better not do anything that disgraces the Manjōme Group name."

The briefcase gave her a clue to what he was talking about. She recalled the email her father sent her, but the puzzle pieces she had been given from both sources only meant one thing she had to do. She was the person who sent Manjōme away. Now it was up to her to save him somehow.

She quickly hid herself from the two elder siblings as they strut through the empty hall to leave their younger brother to prepare. Taking a deep breath, she went inside the change room to hopefully get a chance to talk with him, but he wasn't in the room anymore. She was about to call for him when she heard fists pounding on the wall somewhere.

"It's no use! It's no use! It's no use! Win! Win! There's no way I'm the bum out of us siblings! I have to win, win and keep winning! I have to win! Tomorrow, the day after, and the next, and the next, and the next! I'll win, and win, and keep winning!" He sounded as if he was close to tears but Nao kept quiet as he kept mentoring himself.

"Nobody understands the weight of this burden I bear. All they say is, 'Win and win!' They always tell me to win!" Nao went back outside and took in all she heard from Manjōme. She had to do something, but she couldn't do it on her own. She heard Judai flustering over his face and hair being on screen and she got an idea. She ran up to him and pulled him somewhere far from Manjōme.

"Nao?"

She shushed him and said, "Judai, there's something you should know about Manjōme." She explained to him what she heard in the changing room and about the pressure weighing him down for the duel.

"I see. Manjōme has it in a bad spot, doesn't he?"

"But there's something else. If he doesn't use the cards his brothers gave him and loses, then there's a chance that his brothers would humiliate him themselves on screen. If that happens, you have to save him."

"Save him?"

"Do what you would do in a duel, like you did to me. You'll discover something throughout the duel. I'm sure of it."

"Nao," he whispered from her encouragement. "Why are you telling me this?"

She paused and answered him in a grave expression, "Because I made him like this."

At the arena where the duel would take place, Judai was standing by with Shō and Hayato by his side. The students from both campuses were cheering their hearts out even before the match started. The team spirit was so overwhelming that Nao started to get a bit of a headache, but she bore with it for Judai's sake.

"Big Bro, you can take it easy today! Since you beat Manjōme before, Big Bro, you should be all set!" Shō said.

"I dunno about that," he mumbled.

"You can't second-guess things now," Hayato chided.

"I'm not second-guessing anything. It's just I respect Manjōme now. After all, he became the head of that other school all by himself, and brought his struggle to this doorstep. He looks pretty cool." Judai looked at Manjōme then back at Nao, who had a nervous look on her face. They nodded at each other, referring back to the conversation they had.

"Well, it is now time! The Duel Academia Main Campus, and the North Campus declares the start of the Interschool Duel Match! Professor Chronos, introduce the duelists!" the Principals initiated.

"I do not believe this! To think I am currently bring broadcast all across the country, well this is the Interschool Match between the Duel Academia Main Campus and the North Campus is now underway! Now I will introduce the Dropout Bo-" he paused, "I mean Yuki Judai!" The students cheered for him, but Nao seemed to be the only one who was concerned for both. Ryō, who was sitting beside her, noticed how tight her fists her clenching on her lap. However, he kept it to himself and didn't pry.

"Break a leg, Big Bro! Don't lose!" Shō shouted.

"His opponent, from the North Campus-" Professor Chronos was about to continue but Manjōme interrupted him instead.

"Hold it. I'll introduce myself. I told you to shut up and beat it, you damn kappa!" he raised his voice when he wouldn't leave so easily.

"I'm not a kappa! This hairstyle was done by a famous stylist-" he stopped when he realized that he tangled himself in the microphone wire and tumbled off stage.

"Listen up! Do you all remember me? Those of you in this academy who were relieved I was gone!" Nao cowered a little in guilt. "Those of you who went on about how I got what I deserved! If you don't know, then allow me to tell you. Use those ears of yours well and listen carefully! Like the phoenix, I've been resurrected from the depths of hell! My name is One! Ten! Hundred! Thousand! Manjōme Thunder!" The North Campus students followed the chant he began and roared his name.

"Who am I?"

"Thunder!"

"Manjōme..."

"Thunder!"

"Let's go, Judai! After all, I can't lose this duel!"

"Bring it, Manjōme!"

"It's _The _Manjōme!"

"Duel!" they started their duel.

Manjōme had a new deck to behold for his old school. He summoned a Masked Dragon in defense, but Judai's Elemental Hero Burstlady destroyed it on his first time, which allowed Manjōme to summon a Dragon-type monster from his deck with 1500 attack points or less. He Special Summoned Armed Dragon Lv 3, which made Nao even more tense.

"Level monster?" Shō wondered.

"It's a monster that continues to level up as you meet its requirements," Asuka explained.

"However, it is a very rare card only mentioned in legends. Just where could he have?" Misawa asked.

"The Armed Dragon cards are treasured cards passed down to the North Campus. My father had told me about this prior to my enrollment here," Nao answered for him. "To think that the North Campus Principal would go this far to entrust them to him," she whispered to herself.

Manjōme sacrificed his Armed Dragon Lv 3 to Special Summon Armed Dragon Lv 5, which was twice as strong as the former.

"Be careful, Judai! Because its Level was raised, Armed Dragon's special ability should have also rapidly intensified!" Misawa warned him. Judai activated his trap, Hero Halo which shielded his Burstlady from being destroyed by monsters with over 1900 attack points. Nao grit her teeth, knowing that it wasn't enough to avoid Manjōme.

"Armed Dragon Lv 5's special effect: It allows me to send a monster in my and to the Cemetery to destroy one opposing monster with less attack points than that monster! I send the Dragonfly in my hand to the Cemetery!"

"Dragonfly's attack power is 1400!" Shō commented.

"So the 1200-attack-point Burstlady gets destroyed!" Hayato added. With the effect destroying Judai's only monster, Manjōme sent a direct attack to him, dealing twenty-four hundred points of damage, leaving sixteen hundred.

Judai's turn finally came, and he summoned Bubbleman since his field was empty. After drawing two cards because of its special ability, he activates Fusion to fuse Bubbleman, Featherman and Sparkman to form Tempester. He commanded an attack and destroyed Manjōme's Armed Dragon and lowered his Life Points to thirty-six hundred. He called back his fallen monster due to his trap card Call of the Living Dead, and Judai only set a card face-down to end his turn.

Manjōme activated his monster's special effect again to destroy Tempester by sending Despair from the Darkness, which had the same amount of attack power. Judai cancelled their fusion with Fusion Cancellation but Sparkman was destroyed by battle instead.

At the end of his turn, Manjōme sacrificed Armed Dragon Lv 5 to Special Summon Armed Dragon Lv 7, furthering its evolution. Judai, on the contrary, was getting too excited for his own good, but it make Manjōme even more disgusted.

"How much are you going to make me sick? I can't live like you, going all day thinking about nothing and just skipping through life! Look at the pressure of this glare! The heaviness of this glare under which all the dreams and desires of the Manjōme family that rests on my shoulders. To fulfill the hopes of my Big Brothers, and to prove my worth, no matter what happens here, Yuki Judai, I have to defeat you!"

"I won't let you do that so easily, Manjōme!"

"It's _The _Manjōme!"

Nao spotted befuddled looks on Manjōme's brothers' faces, thinking that something may be wrong with that was going on. Surely the Armed Dragons weren't released in public and not many people were given rights to own them. Then the deck must be just powerful enough without any cards his brothers offered him, which served to her advantage just in case. Judai's turn had come and gone, so Manjōme took his turn again.

"I activate Armed Dragon Lv 7's effect! By sending a monster in my hand to the Cemetery, all opposing monsters with less attack power than it are destroyed!"

"Attack power less than that of the card used as the cost..." Asuka muttered.

"All of them?" Nao finished.

"Does this mean that its effect also powered up?" Ryō said.

"I'll discard Armed Dragon Lv 3 from my hand to the Cemetery, destroying all your monsters on the field with 1200 or less attack power!" In a moment, all of Judai's monsters were destroyed by effect, but he was able to use Friendog's ability to retrieve Fusion and an Elemental Hero from his Cemetery to his hand.

Nao held in her breath when Manjōme declared a direct attack on Judai, until the latter activated his trap card, Hero Spirits, making sure that his battle damage was reduced to zero after an Elemental Hero has already been destroyed.

When Judai drew his next card, Nao could have sworn she heard something from the field. In that moment, Naturu Pineapple appeared on her lap. It jumped up and down and nudged its head to the field where Winged Kuribō was summoned in defense mode.

"Your typical way of running from things, is it? What help do you think you'll get from something like that?"

Winged Kuribō piped up, insulted from his brash words.

"It still gets angry easily, huh?"

Beside Manjōme, there was another peculiar spirit that she could see. Naturu Pineapple blinked at the new creature and gazed up at Nao, puzzled as to what was going on. Then she heard it speak.

"Still, Big Bro, that one might know something about my siblings! So, please bring me into the game so I can ask!"

"Shut it! You don't have a place in such an important duel!"

"Don't say that, Big Bro!" Its lips quivered as it floated behind him. Winged Kuribō hopped onto Judai's shoulder and pointed at the spirit having a conversation with Manjōme.

"What'd you say? In Manjōme's deck?" He looked closer and saw the yellow translucent monster that wasn't there before. "You're right. Well, Manjōme, whatcha got there?"

Manjōme had a red flag waving in his mind and chased after the spirit while growling at it, "Hurry and beat it! It's not like I'm going to use you! I told you to beat it right now!" He slapped his palms on the spirit and drew his next card to start his next turn. He attacked Judai's Winged Kuribō with his Armed Dragon Lv 7 and ended his turn.

"How come he didn't use Armed Dragon's special effect on Winged Kuribō?" Shō asked.

"Because, with Winged Kuribō's special effect, he would be unable to deal damage to Judai this turn," Misawa answered.

"That strength of his barely keeping him in there," Asuka commented worriedly. "It seems Judai's luck hasn't run out yet."

Judai activated Pot of Greed to gain two more cards from his deck after his draw phase. He then activated Special Hurricane by discarding one card from his hand to destroy Manjōme's Special-Summoned Monsters, which was a turn of events he didn't expect. Armed Dragon Lv 7 was finally destroyed and turned out that even powerful monsters had weaknesses.

"As they get higher-leveled, Level-Up Monsters become special-summoned monsters!" Hayato understood.

"I see. So, he used that against him?" Misawa followed along.

"He did it! Big Bro took down the ultimate Armed Dragon! Things are on Big Bro's side now!" Shō praised.

Judai then summoned a new Elemental Hero, Wildman to attack him directly, deducting fifteen hundred life points down to twenty-one hundred. Manjōme stood up with dark eyes and started his turn by activating Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension, allowing him to return two "Level" Monsters in his Cemetery to his deck and shuffle. He summoned another Armed Dragon Lv 3 to the field and set one card face-down.

"He didn't waste any time calling out a monster to his field," Shō noticed.

"However, calling out another Armed Dragon, I'm seeing his pattern here," Nao noticed his actions too. She asked to herself if he was panicking to defend himself. She realized that the pressure was now taking its toll on him. She saw Manjōme glaring to his left and followed it to his brothers, who were watching him intensely.

Judai also saw his brothers sitting at the stands and recalled what Nao told him before that there was so much weight on Manjōme's shoulders because of his brothers, not as the School Representative. Then he heard Shō scolding him about why he was just standing there, asking if dueling was fun.

"That's right! Dueling isn't about winning or losing! Let alone fighting for the sake of others! You duel to enjoy yourself! Manjōme!"

"It's _The _Manjōme!" The North Campus students cheered him on by instinct. Judai took his turn by attacking and destroying Armed Dragon Lv 3 with Wildman. Manjōme activated his trap, Grave Revival, which allowed both players to Special Summon one monster from their Cemetery in Defense mode. Manjōme chose Armed Dragon Lv 5.

"That may be, but the monsters Special Summoned through Grave of Revival shouldn't be able to switch battle mode!" Shō said.

"Even in Defense mode, he can still use Lv 5's powerful special ability. There are only weaker-attack-powered monsters in Judai's Cemetery. Lv 5's effect alone is enough to destroy them," Nao disagreed.

To her surprise, Judai summoned Hero Kid from his Cemetery, which she didn't remember seeing it on the field. A thought hit her at the time when he used Special Hurricane by discarding one card.

"When it's successfully Special-Summoned, this card lets me Special-Summon cards with the same name as it from my deck! I'll summon two more Hero Kids. And, I'll set one card face-down to finish up this turn!"

Like she predicted, Manjōme had an alternative way to summon Armed Dragon Lv 7 by using Level Up Magic Card.

"This isn't good! Manjōme's going to wipe out all of Judai's monsters again!" Ryō warned. Nao clenched her fists tighter, hoping that Judai could turn something around this turn.

"Next, I'll go and activate the Equip Magic, Armed Changer, from my hand. I'll activate this card by sending one Equip Magic from my hand to the Cemetery." When he equipped it, he commanded his Armed Dragon Lv 7 to attack Wildman, lowering Judai's life points to three hundred and using the Equip Magic's effect to take a monster less than the monster he just destroyed from his Cemetery to his hand. Finally, he used Lv 7's ability to send it back to the Cemetery to destroy all monsters on Judai's field.

"Masked Dragon's attack power is 1400. All monsters with less than that are destroyed!" Nao said.

Manjōme cackled once the three Hero Kids were destroyed by Lv 7's effect. "Judai! I'll give you a chance to surrender now, live on TV, before you get humiliated."

"Gimme a break! It's not like I'd surrender or anything, you know! I'm really excited right now! I mean I'll be creating a miracle on my next turn, after all," Judai smirked. "Still I wished I could have battled the real Manjōme... Thunder."

"Are you saying I'm not playing for real?"

"Yeah. It seemed like you weren't really looking at me so much as battling someone else, instead. Next time, how about we duel while having more fun? I mean, dueling is supposed to be fun, right? Especially when your trusting friends answer back to that!" Judai drew his supposed last card and subsequently activated the Magic Card Warrior's Return to bring back Featherman from the Cemetery. He fused it with Burstlady to Fusion Summon Flame Wingman.

For Judai's final trick, he revealed his set card, Miracle Kids which lowered Armed Dragon Lv 7's attack points by four hundred for each Hero Kid in his Cemetery. Lv 7's attack power was twenty-eight hundred, and therefore lowered to sixteen hundred. He launched his final attack with Flame Wingman, dealing five hundred points of damage along with the attack power of Armed Dragon Lv 7's due to its special effect. The camera crew cut the entire shoot to prevent any footage of Manjōme's defeat.

"He did it! Flame Wingman took down Armed Dragon!" Shō rejoiced.

"Flame Wingman's special ability will also deal the opposing monster's attack power as damage to the opponent," Misawa reminded.

"Manjōme's Life is at sixteen hundred, and the destroyed Armed Dragon's current attack power was also sixteen hundred," Asuka said.

The defeated Manjōme fell on his knees and could barely register the shadows of his brothers hovering over him. "Jun, what the hell were you doing? Didn't you know what you had to do?" Chōsaku angrily scolded.

"You besmirched the Manjōme name!" Shōji barked.

"I'm sorry, Brothers," he murmured.

"What the hell happened to the cards we gave you?"

"Why didn't you use them? If you did, you would've made a stronger deck!" Chōsaku added.

"I wanted to win with my own deck," Manjōme muttered until Shōji roughly grabbed the collars of his sleeve in anger.

"You idiot of a little brother!"

"That's why you're the bum of the family!"

"Would you quit it? That's enough! Manjōme battled with all he had!" Judai countered.

"Are you strangers butting into our sibling affairs?"

"If you're siblings, that's more reason why you shouldn't treat each other like that! For both me and Manjōme... Thunder, we dueled with all we could bring out!"

"We're not interested at all in the process. We only care about results!" Shōji exclaimed.

"For us siblings, results were essential. Results were everything! Winning is everything! Besides, how much money do you think we spent on this duel?"

"And this guy made a disgrace of us!"

"The bigger disgrace you made was bargaining with another family to ensure yours," a new voice from behind Judai interfered.

"Just who do you think you are-?" Chōsaku blurted until he saw Nao make her appearance. "You?"

"The cards you gave Manjōme to use were distributed from the Fukugawa Family."

"What proof do you have?"

"The crest on the briefcase that held all the cards have the Fukugawa Family insignia of a magnolia, meaning nobility. That is my evidence." Chōsaku checked the business card and like Nao said, the same insignia appeared in the corner. The two brothers scowled.

"Your claim for investing on this Interschool Duel is only a shallow veil that barely covers the fact that the Fukugawa Family are the true sponsors to this duel. Since I was the cause for his withdrawal from Duel Academia, the association with the Fukugawa Family will ensure that the Manjōme Group will not succeed. In other words, the Manjōme Group had paid for a sponsor to endorse this duel. Therefore the rights of this duel will belong to the Fukugawa Family."

"You? The youngest member of the Fukugawa Family?"

"Unless you want to lose the sponsorship and let the Manjōme Group sink any lower, it's best if Manjōme Jun would be in our hands instead. Also, he didn't just duel, but he also fought against all the pressure you put on him! Even in his suffering, he managed to surpass both of you!" Nao continued.

Shōji shoved Manjōme out of his grip. "Dueling isn't just about winning or losing. It's about gaining something more important!" Judai added on.

"Quiet, Judai. Don't make me feel even more pathetic."

"Jun!" Chōsaku called out.

"Brothers, go back home," he spat through his teeth. Both the students from Main and North campus repeated after Manjōme and chanted for them to leave.

"You've misjudged us, Jun! Let's go, Shōji!" The eldest along with the second brother stalked out of the arena with their heads high and promptly left the island in their helicopters.

By the shores of the ocean, Manjōme looked out at his departed brothers. He heard a pair of footsteps approaching him from behind.

"Who is it?"

"I knew you didn't want anyone to defend you because you had the pride of a duelist."

"Then why did you? After everything I've done to you?"

"Because I wanted to. A part of me, at that time, wanted to refuse your stakes when we dueled. Maybe I was a high-class fraud. Now that you surpassed your brothers, I didn't really care who I was anymore."

"Fukugawa," he turned around.

"On behalf of the Fukugawa Family, we can insure that your re-enrollment to Duel Academia will be assured."

"What makes you say that I'll come back?" he bitterly inquired.

"Well I'm not going to make your decision for you. It's been yours the entire time."

Manjōme gave a bit of thought to himself, the fact dawning upon him that Nao was being forgiving by her own free will. He looked to Nao who was waiting patiently, reminding him, "But you'd better hurry. The North Campus submarine will leave soon." He gazed out at the sea where his brothers disappeared to and followed her back to the harbor.

"It would be good to have you return," she said before she became quiet again, without knowing that her kindness made him feel a little better.


End file.
